Neptune: Year One
by Baka Gaijin30
Summary: We all know Sailor Moon's origin story, how a clumsy fourteen year old found a talking cat, was given a magical locket, yadda, yadda, yadda. We know the origins of almost all of the other Senshi as well. But how did Michiru Kaioh become Sailor Neptune?
1. Chapter 1

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the character of Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

-I-

-1982-

_The child set her violin case down on the floor and turned to the sheet music in front of her. Not old enough yet to read the written word, the five year old heir to the Kaioh diamond fortune showed an early aptitude for music and the violin._

_A few weeks ago, after her doting mother bought her a finger painting kit, her other talent was discovered._

_As the girl opened the case and took out the trainer violin, her mother looked on from the sidelines with the principal of the private school she was enrolled in._

_"Simply amazing," Principal Mifune whispered as the notes flowed from the five year old's fingers. "I've heard of such progeny before of course, but other than your daughter the only other child I've personally known with such talent was an autistic idiot savant. In your daughter's case however… Well, Kiosho-sensei says it was as though the child already knew how to play, but just needed reminding."_

_The girl's mother nodded. "Has the music teacher explained my position to you yet?"_

_"Hai, Kaioh-san. She will be treated no different than the other music students for now."_

_"Good," her mother said. "I'd like to try to allow her as normal a childhood as possible. Her gifts will become known soon enough. I don't wish my Michiru-chan to be exploited, understood?"_

_Before Principal Mifune could respond, a lanky man in a gray flannel suit came in, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. "Kaioh-san, your husband's divorce lawyer has asked for certain papers which…"_

_"Shh," the mother scolded, "It can wait until she's done."_

_Hearing the small disturbance, the five year old looked up from the sheet music and, seeing her beloved mother watching her, gave a large toothy grin. The gap in her smile from her first contribution to the tooth fairy somehow only added to the girl's cuteness._

-October, 1991-

"Michiru-chan, wake up."

Fourteen year old Michiru Kaioh opened her eyes grudgingly as the alarm continued to buzz next to her. Reaching over, she turned it off. "Gomen, Takayo-chan."

"It's alright, I was already up," Takayo Fuji answered, the young redhead stretching her arms out wide before opening the curtain to look outside at the rest of the St. Agatha Girl's Academy campus. "You know," she said, noting the storm clouds collecting off to the southeast, "You wouldn't have such a hard time waking up in the morning if you didn't spread yourself so thin. I mean academics, band practice, the swim team…"

"Yes, thank you," Michiru said rather stiffly as she got out of bed. "I know you mean well, but I can manage."

"That I know," Takayo replied with a smirk as Michiru shuffled slowly into the bathroom. "Everyone's aware of how easy academics come to you."

"Not that easy," Michiru called out as she squeezed toothpaste out onto her toothbrush. "I still have to work at it."

"Not like the rest of us," Takayo called back as the sounds of Michiru brushing her teeth escaped from the bathroom. "All I'm saying is that you need time to relax and enjoy yourself more.

"I already do," Michiru replied after spitting out into the sink, "On the weekends."

"Painting landscapes out in the bug-infested fields is hardly what I'd call enjoyment."

Michiru stepped out of the bathroom clutching her toothbrush in her hand. "It is to me," she replied, "Besides, it's the outdoors. It's only natural to have to deal with the occasional pest."

Takayo raised an eyebrow at that. "Occasional?"

Michiru shook her head in exasperation and went back into the bathroom. "What do you suppose they'll have for us in the cafeteria this morning?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

Takayo shrugged, "Meh, same thing as every Tuesday morning. Runny eggs, toast, over cooked sausage and orange juice." Suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Michiru-chan," she called as the shower was turned on, "Did you remember to get permission from principal Ichi to leave campus after classes to attend the audition?"

"Hai," Michiru called out as she removed her nightgown and stepped into the shower, a smile teasing her lips as she thought about the audition she'd be going to. The Takarazuka Review was a musical show that featured girls and women in all the roles, playing both men and women. Her mother had already spoken with key members of the school board about allowing Michiru to join the orchestra and play in after school performances, provided she keep her grades up and not slip in any other extracurricular activities.

A short time later Michiru emerged from the shower, her wet aqua colored locks wrapped up in a towel around her head. "The shower's all yours," she said, "I even saved you some hot water."

"Thanks," Takayo said as she grabbed her bathrobe and a towel. "Remember what I said," she called out before closing the bathroom door behind her. "Mark my words, you're going to spread yourself too thin Michiru-chan."

Michiru didn't answer, instead she simply plugged in her hair dryer to the socket by her bed and, as the sounds of the shower turning on came from the bathroom, she removed the towel from her hair, picked up her brush and began working on her hair, using the full-length mirror on the other side of the room to make sure it came out right. It was funny, other girls would've paid good money to have her wavy hair, but it was natural for her (and on more than one occasion she had wished it could've been straighter).

After both girls were done and dressed in the brown skirt and vest uniform of the St. Agatha Academy, they left their shared room for breakfast at the cafeteria, followed by morning classes. At lunch time, Michiru sat at the 'popular table' with a few other freshmen, but mostly with higher classmen. As she sipped from her milk carton, she saw Miyuki Asami from the school's gymnastic team enter with her tray of food. Michiru was mesmerized by the older girl's physique, her lithe yet muscular arms and her long legs coming out from her skirt. The brown haired athlete looked over, her eyes meeting Michiru's just long enough to cause the violinist's breath to catch in her throat.

"I said, isn't that right Michiru-chan?"

Michiru turned toward the speaker with a start. "Nani?"

"The algebra test, wasn't it a killer?"

"Oh, oh right," she responded, trying to ignore the sudden warmth welling up within her body. "I suppose, but then that's Katsuki sensei for you, ne?" The others nodded in agreement before carrying on with the conversation, much to Michiru's relief. She'd have to be more careful in the future. Have to keep up appearances after all, mustn't let one's guard down.

After the close call in the cafeteria, it was a relief to return to the relative safety of the classroom. Once final classes were over, Michiru changed out of her school uniform and into a pretty sea green dress. She then showed her pass to the monitor and was allowed to leave the school grounds. It was a short walk to the bus station, and she soon found herself carting her violin case onto the public bus, leaving the peace of her school and surrounding acreage behind as she headed into the crowded and bustling downtown.

After about an hour, the bus stopped at her destination. As Michiru exited the bus and entered the congested Tokyo streets though, a large crash was heard coming out of a nearby ally. A nearby policeman pushed rudely past the aqua haired young girl to investigate, only to be knocked violently into a corner post office box by a strange looking woman in a cat costume. Ignoring both the injured cop and the throng of stunned bystanders, she turned angrily back towards the alley way. "There is no way you can defeat me, Nyan-Nyan, princess of the cat world! Kill her, my servants!"

The woman very quickly turned and ran, bolting into traffic and weaving her way through the busy intersection as she made her escape. Michiru was about to join the other civilians who were checking to make sure the officer was alright, when a spotted cat flew by close to her face. A reddish tabby likewise was flung out of the alley just before a strange blonde emerged from the alleyway, wearing a red mask and dressed in a sort of sailor costume. She was covered in scratches, six or seven alley cats still clinging to her as they continued the attack.

"Look!" a young boy exclaimed as he pointed at her, "It's Sailor V!"

"Sailor who?" Michiru asked.

"Urgh, get off me!" Sailor V yelled angrily as she grabbed a black cat by its tail and angrily flung it into a nearby dumpster. Ignoring the other cats still clinging to her, she rushed forward into the rush hour traffic, giving a 'V for Victory' sign to the onlookers even as she hopped from car roof to car roof in pursuit of her quarry.

As Michiru watched Sailor V running after the cat girl, something inexplicable happened. She didn't know how or why, but the violinist was suddenly seized with a desire to join in the pursuit of the cat girl, as if it was somehow the natural thing for her to do. Her pulse quickened, her nostrils flared, and she began to edge her way across the sidewalk to the street.

"Miss?"

She turned to see a small elderly woman holding up her violin case. "Miss, I believe this is yours. The policeman accidentally knocked it out of your hand."

Michiru shook her head a few times to help clear her head as the sudden adrenalin rush wore off. "A… Arigato." What on earth was she thinking? Her mother used to refer to her as her 'little porcelain princess' because of how fragile and girly she was, and here she was about to do what? Join some loon in a Halloween mask and chase down dangerous criminals?

She turned on her heels, ignoring the momentary lightheadedness she was experiencing from the adrenalin crash and quickly walked away. There were enough people surrounding the police officer that they wouldn't need her help, and she still had to make her audition. As she hurried off, she was unaware of the statuesque woman watching her intently through violet eyes older than the sands of Egypt. As Michiru rounded the corner, she turned likewise away from the commotion around the police officer, pushing a strand of emerald green hair behind her ear as she was soon lost in the Tokyo traffic.

A short time later Michiru reached the theater in Takarazuka. After having hurried most of the way, she was almost out of breath. Coming up to the doors however, she found them locked. Looking around frantically, she saw a well dressed woman exiting a side entrance. As the woman turned and locked the door, Michiru hurried over. "Miss, aren't the auditions today?"

The woman turned to her and nodded. "Hai, the auditions were today, but they ended ten minutes ago."

Michiru felt like the floor had been snatched out from under her. "No, but… But I… I was set to audition," she said weakly as she held up her violin case.

The woman narrowed her eyes a bit as she studied Michiru more closely. "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

Michiru smiled at the faint glimmer of hope offered her. "You might've seen a newspaper article about me in last month's Tokyo Times. My name's Michiru Kaioh."

The woman pursed her lips as she crossed her arms. "Ah yes, the 'prodigy.' Young lady, just because you're talented doesn't mean that the world is expected to stop for you."

"But I… But no, I didn't…"

"There are no handouts in the Takarazuka Revue, no free passes, no matter how talented you are. You should've come to audition with the others during the time set aside for audition. Now, you'll have to wait until next year to audition again. I'm sorry."

With that, the woman left, leaving a crushed young girl clutching her violin case to her as her eyes welled up with tears. Michiru pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her eyes as she slowly headed for the nearest bus depot.

When she arrived back at school grounds a little over an hour and a half later, she was quiet and morose. Takayo tried her best to cheer Michiru up, but the girl wouldn't have any of it. Sleep came hard for her that night, as she tried to imagine what she would say when her mother found out about the botched audition. Exhaustion won the day though, and she eventually slipped off into slumber.

-0-0-0-

_She was standing on a hill overlooking the outskirts of the city. The sky was red and the buildings and people were black. All was still, even the birds appeared to be motionlessly floating in midair as she looked on._

_The sound of an explosion caused Michiru to jump. She turned around to see a huge column of blackness engulfing everything, leaving death and destruction in its path as it sucked all into itself, making itself bigger. There was no time for her to run, and no place for her to run to. Fear and horror gripped her as she saw it rapidly approaching._

"_Courage," a voice whispered. Michiru turned desperately to see who'd spoken. She saw a tall young woman with dark green hair and violet eyes, wearing a sailor fuku and holding a staff of some sort. The woman walked past her and towards the oncoming darkness, lifting her staff as she did so._

"_What are you doing?" Michiru cried out. "Turn! Run!"_

_The woman turned to her, sadness showing in her eyes as the great death was now only a few yards away from her. "I can not, Michiru. I must try to stop it."_

_Michiru shook her head in disbelief. "No! You can't! Look at it!" she screamed as the blackness finally reached the strange woman. "You can't stop it alone, you need help!"_

_The woman smiled at the violinist even as her body began to disintegrate into the darkness._

"_I did send for help. I sent for you."_

-0-0-0-

Michiru woke up with a start, the young girl shaking all over as she sat up in bed. She was wet with sweat, and as she looked over at her alarm clock she saw that it was a quarter past three. "What a dream," she sighed. Maybe Takao was right. Maybe her schedule, to say nothing of the incident this afternoon and the disappointment of the tryouts, really was finally getting to her. She got out of bed quietly so as not to wake up her roommate and went to the bathroom for a cup of water.

Meanwhile, within the Time Gate, Sailor Pluto opened her eyes. It had not been easy to pierce through the young girl's consciousness and into her dreams, and it left her feeling drained. Soon, the time she'd been waiting for millennia for would arrive. The new age would dawn upon the world, and the new kingdom would rise up from the long forgotten ashes of the old. Before that could happen though, it would get much darker before the dawn.

Venus was already revived, and was even now fighting the forces of the Dark Agency as Sailor V, a fight she was destined to win. Also, Queen Beril had recently been reawakened, along with the Shitennou of King Endymion. Venus was not powerful enough to defeat the evil queen and her underlings alone. That would have to wait for the awakening of the others, and the search for their princess.

Then, there were the Death Busters.

Their activities were in secret for now, and even Pluto's Time Gate was having difficulty looking in on their activities, which implied a high level of malign magic at work. Sailor Pluto was doing all she could in the shadows to stave off the oncoming conflicts for as long as possible in order to give the others time to awaken to their powers, but time was running out. If Venus was to effectively deal with the Dark Agency and then join the others against the Dark Kingdom, someone had to take on this earliest incarnation of the Death Busters. Not to defeat it, for its power was growing and only all the awakened Senshi would stand a chance against it and the upcoming Silence, but rather to keep it in check until the others were ready.

She was having difficulty locating Uranus. Today though, she'd confirmed the latest incarnation of Neptune in a fourteen year old Catholic school girl named Michiru Kaioh.

Neptune had to be awakened.

Pluto only hoped that someday Michiru would be able to forgive her for it.

-To Be Continued-

End Notes: the Takarazuka Review, according to wikipedia, is "a musical theater in the city of Takarazuka, Japan. Women play both male and female roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions - most of their plays are Western-style musicals, and sometimes they are stories adapted from shōjo manga and folktales of China and Japan. Their fans are mostly female."


	2. Chapter 2

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

-II-

"Inexcusable. Simply inexcusable," Principal Ichi said, the old nun cleaning her glasses with a lace handkerchief as she looked out the window of her office overlooking the small chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Turning away from the window, she put her wire framed glasses back on and looked down at the aqua-haired girl sitting in the chair before her. "A school exit pass is not something to be taken lightly, young lady, nor is the responsibility that goes along with it. You, your mother, and the school board all vouched for your seriousness and responsibility, and what happened? You never even _went_ to the audition yesterday."

Michiru silently watched as the old nun paced back and forth before her. She had been around her mother, as well as various nannies and other adults long enough to have learned that when one gets worked up enough, it was best to simply sit back and wait until they've said their peace before trying to defend herself. Instead, she began to focus on the nun as an artist would study a model, biding her time until her principal was finished.

"That a young child prodigy, no, more, a genius such as yourself should be so flippant about the talents our Lord has bestowed upon her…"

A normal oval wouldn't do for Principal Ichi's face. A square? Yes, definitely. If Michiru drew a rough sketch of a square, and then divided it into roughly three equally spaced horizontal lines, the mouth would fall very neatly on the bottom line, followed by her round and rather upturned nose on the middle line, and the eyes on the top line. The box would then end right where Principal Ichi's habit began.

"You say you wish to share your talents with the world, which is all well and good, but…"

Her body shape was best comparable to a summer squash, especially with the way she widened near the bottom and had so little showing on top. Of course, that could be just as much an illusion caused by her wearing a nun's habit than actual genetics or diet. The habit itself was of a light slate grey coloring, the sun shining in from outside casting light cadmium yellow highlights on her head and shoulder and dark Prussian blue shadows in the folds of her uniform. Her face was a mixture of alizarin crimson, yellow ochre, and…

"Well Michiru, speak up. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Michiru stood up from the chair, crossing her hands before her as she addressed her principal. "Principal Ichi-sama, I thank you for for your concern, and as you're well aware I do deeply regret missing my chance to audition for the Takarazuka Revue. However, I have already explained to you and Sister Agatha what happened."

"Yes, of course," Principal Ichi said dismissively, "The two girls who supposedly caused a traffic incident…"

Michiru narrowed her eyes. "Principal Ichi-sama, I'm earning top grades in all my classes, am the starter for the swim team, and have yet to earn a single behavioral demerit."

"True, but then it's only October isn't it?"

"Principal Ichi-sama, one missed music audition does not make a delinquent, nor does it indicate in any way a flippant disregard for my gifts on my part."

"I see…" Principal Ichi said. Going back to her desk, she picked up a manila folder containing Michiru's records. "Tell me, why did you not enroll your name in the freshmen mentoring program?"

Michiru was surprised by the change in topic. "I'm sorry?"

"Our school, as well as several other Catholic girl schools in the diocese, have programs and traditions in place where young girls place themselves under the guidance of older girls, to watch over them and help guide them as they mature into young ladies. I can still remember my sponsor when I was your age. Then, as now, we referred to our mentors as onee-sama. My onee-sama was named Chikasi, and she was everything I wasn't. Patient, studious…"

"Ichi-sama," Michiru interrupted, "With all due respect, my school activities leave little enough time as it is for personal time without my being asked to humor a junior or senior trying to be my older sister."

"Oh?"

"If we are going to talk, let's be honest. I'm an only child of a broken home, and I think I've done rather well for myself so far. I didn't put myself on any mentoring list because, for me, I felt it to be a waste of time. After all, my roommate Takayo-chan has a mentor, and the only time they spend together is on weekends when her 'onee-sama' takes her out shopping so Takayo-chan can help her pick out clothes. I'm sorry Ichi-sama, but I simply do not see the need for an onee-sama in my case. What could I hope to learn from such a person?"

Principal Ichi raised an eyebrow. "Humility, perhaps?"

Michiru had no response for that one.

"Pride preceedeth the fall, Michiru-chan," Principal Ichi said with raised finger. "No, my mind's made up. You shall have a mentor, and…" the nun was interrupted by the telephone. Irritated at having been cut off in the middle of her lecture, she picked the receiver up brusquely. "Moshi moshi, I… **What**?" she asked, the blood draining from her face as her jaw hung open for a second. "But… But when? How did it happen?"

Michiru noted the principal's look of consternation with concern, "Principal Ichi-sama?"

"Where? The library? I… Wait, hold on." Covering the receiver with her hand, she looked over to Michiru. "You're dismissed Michiru-chan. We'll discuss this more later."

Michiru turned around and left hurriedly, the last thing she heard before leaving the Principal Ichi's office was her asking over the phone if somebody's parents had been notified yet. The bell rang for second period, and she hurried to class, relieved at the prospect of loosing herself in world history.

When she got to class though, the room was all abuzz as girls whispered and giggled amongst themselves. When they noticed Michiru enter the room, the talking stopped. Puzzled, the young freshman took her seat and turned to her neighbor. "Noriko-chan, what's everyone gossiping about?"

"You, of course," Noriko responded, "It's only October, and you're already in trouble with Principal Ichi."

Michiru shook her head and sighed.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it though," Noriko added, "Someone else is bound to screw up sooner or later, and then no one will bother whispering about you anymore."

"Gee, thanks," Michiru said acerbically. Looking around the classroom, she noticed an empty desk. "Noriko-chan, do you know where Aya is?"

Noriko shook her head. "Maybe she's sick?"

Just then the door opened, and Sister Yukiko came in. Michiru and the others all stood and bowed their greetings before sitting back down. The nun looked out at her class and took a deep breath. "Girls, before we begin classes today, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your classmate Aya Wakayama has suffered what appears to be a heart attack on the second floor of the school library."

A collective gasp was issued by the shocked students.

"We weren't even aware that the poor girl had any sort of congenitive heart issues, and this comes as a shock to everyone. So this Sunday, at church, please keep young Aya in your prayers. Now then, please open up your books to page eighty-five, and we'll try to go on with today's lesson."

Michiru was dumbstruck. Aya was a fourteen year old freshman like herself and sang tenor in the girl's choir, how could she have suffered a heart attack?

Later, in lunch, Aya's heart attack was the big topic of interest, and Michiru's troubles with Principal Ichi were all but forgotten. While Michiru was giggling at a joke an older student at her table had just made, Miyuki Asami came into the cafeteria. Once again, Michiru felt herself involuntarily noting the gymnast's body, and quickly looked back down at her tray to try to ignore the feelings she was having.

"Hello, are you Michiru Kaioh-san?"

Michiru looked up. There was Miyuki, standing next to her with a tray in her hand and a smile beaming on her face. "Hai," she answered, trying her hardest not to blush, "I'm Michiru."

"Good," Miyuki said, setting her tray next to Michiru's. "I just got done talking to Principal Ichi. I'm your new onee-sama."

-0-0-0-

"Miyuki Asami?" Takayo asked wide-eyed, "The hero of St. Agatha's jymnastic team is your onee-sama?"

Michiru nodded, sitting on her bed as she sketched her roommate. "Yes, she's my onee-same. Now sit still and stop fidgeting."

"But do you know how lucky you are?" she asked. "Between you and me," she whispered, "I happen to know of one or two perverted girls who have romantic crushes on her."

-Snap-

"Michiru-chan, why'd you just snap your pencil in half?"

"Slipped," the freshman replied as she sweat dropped. "Let's forget about sketching you for awhile," she said as she put her sketch book down. "Besides, your onee-sama is coming, and she's pretty upset about something."

Takayo looked confused. "Chieko-sama? How do you know she…" a knock on the door interrupted Michiru's room mate. Getting up, Takayo opened the door to see that her onee-sama, Chieko, was indeed standing out in the hallway looking apprehensive. "Onee-sama? What's wrong?"

"I… I thought you should know, since you and she were both classmates. The news just came in. Aya… Aya passed away just fifteen minutes ago."

"No," Michiru gasped.

"Well… Well how? Why?"

"I'm not sure myself Takayo-chan," Chieko answered, adding in a slightly lower voice, "But already some pretty wild rumors are starting to circulate. The most ridiculous one so far is that Aya went hysterical in her last minutes, saying stuff about monsters and heart crystals before she finally passed away. Crazy, huh?"

"I'll say," Takayo nodded. "Thank you for giving us the news."

"Sure. I'm just sorry it was such bad news," Chieko replied with a sad expression before turning around to leave the dorm room.

Takayo turned to Michiru, eyeing her roommate suspiciously. "How? How did you know my onee-sama was coming with bad news?"

Michiru looked almost as mystified as Takayo. "I don't know," she admitted, "Somehow, I just did."

-0-0-0-

_With dread, she knew she was having the same dream again. The city and people were silhouetted against the red sky as the darkness raced closer. Except this time, she wasn't watching from any hill. She was in the city itself, frozen in place with the others around her as building and people crumbled around her. And this time, there was no woman with a staff nearby to defend her. As the darkness reached her, she closed her eyes and let out a scream._

_Opening her eyes, she found herself on all fours coughing up blood. Her arms were covered in cuts and scratches, and while she couldn't see it, it felt like her left eye was swollen shut. Her chest ached, and she wasn't sure but she thought she might have broken a rib._

"_Can you move?"_

_She turned with a groan to see the speaker. The woman's form was obscured both by shadows and Michiru's blurred vision, but she was able to make out a puddle of blood underneath the figure. All around them, flames rose up into the darkened sky as terrified screams could be heard. She could also make out, far to the right, a palace in burning ruins. _

_She nodded her head weakly._

"_Good," the woman responded as she limped painfully towards her. "If we are to die my love, let us die fighting," she groaned, the lights from the flames around them highlighting her sandy blonde hair as her face was just about to come out of the shadows..._

-0-0-0-

"Michiru-chan, wake up!"

Michiru woke up, tears rolling down her cheeks as her roommate held her close. "T… Takayo-chan?"

"You were having a nightmare," the redhead whispered as she handed over some tissue. "Your crying woke me up."

Michiru wiped her eyes, "Arigato, Takayo-chan. I'm sorry to have woken you."

"It's okay," her roommate said soothingly as she softly patted her on the back, "What with Aya's death, it's a wonder I'm not having bad dreams as well. Are you going to be alright?"

"Hai, thank you," Michiru sighed. "I just have to go to the bathroom again."

Takayo smiled, "Okay. I'm going back to bed then. Just turn off the light for me, okay?"

Michiru nodded, apologizing again as Takayo yawned and crawled back into her bed. Getting up, Michiru turned off the lamp next to her on the bed stand and felt her way cautiously in the darkness to the bathroom door. She opened the door, crept in, shut the door behind her back, and turned on the light switch.

She turned around to find she was no longer _in_ her bathroom though. All around her was a foggy mist, and from what she could see she was in some sort of strange alien landscape. Turning around quickly, she watched as the bathroom door disappeared.

"Michiru Kaioh."

Michiru turned back again to see the woman from the strange dream the night before. "Oh no," she whimpered. "I'm having one of _those _dreams, aren't I?"

The woman tilted her head a bit to the side, "One of those dreams?"

Michiru put her hand to her forehead and nodded. "Yes, one of those dreams where you think you've woken up, but you're really still asleep. I hate these kinds of dreams."

The strange woman's lips curled up ever so slightly, "I see. Tell me then, have you ever before conversed within a dream over the fact that you didn't appreciate the type of dream you were having?"

Michiru looked at the woman closely, looked around at the strange land they were currently inhabiting, then looked back with a tinge of fear at the woman with the staff. A sinking feeling took hold of her as she reached over and pinched her arm, a small cry escaping as she winced at the pain.

"This… is real," she whispered as she sank to the ground, her legs suddenly feeling weak as jelly.

"Yes, it is," the woman answered as she walked over to her. "We don't have much time. My name is Pluto."

-To Be Continued-


	3. Chapter 3

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

-III-

Professor Souichi Tomoe frowned as he pulled the sheets of his bed back. Today had not been a total waste of time. After all, he had been able to offer the Mistress a pure young heart crystal. And Zultan had managed to infiltrate into what she claimed to be a prime source of pure hearts.

But that was not what he'd sent the young witch out to do. He needed the Grail, and to obtain the Grail he needed the three talismans.

Perhaps Kaolinite was right. Perhaps he should've handed the task over to her instead of to the young witch. With a yawn, he decided that for the moment such considerations could wait. If Zultan didn't come through soon though, he would turn things over to Kaolinite. And no doubt after he made a necessary example of Zultan the Witches Six would become the Witches Five.

Professor Tomoe turned off the lights and crawled into bed.

-0-0-0-

Ever since she could remember, Michiru has had a love affair with the ocean. Her earliest memories were of her mother's beach house, playing on the shore and collecting seashells. When she was six, her mother took her out on a boat with other tourists to go whale watching. Gigantic, majestic and, to the youngster watching, almost all powerful, they both terrified and attracted her at the same time. It had filled her with a sense of awe which nothing before or since had ever been able to compare to.

Until now.

"Pluto?" Michiru asked. "Wait a minute, Pluto was the god of the underworld. Then... Then am I in..."

"No," Pluto quickly interrupted. "You are still very much alive, and this is no land of the dead."

Michiru allowed a small sigh of relief to escape her.

"I am not the god or goddess of any underworld. I am the Guardian of the Time Gate, charged with the administration of temporal affairs. Do you understand?"

"That I'm not in Hell, yes," Michiru answered, the young teen still sitting on the ground. "I also get the feeling that, although you're no doubt quite powerful, I'm in no danger at the moment. But other than that no, I don't understand."

Pluto smiled slightly. "That 'feeling' you have is part of your awakening."

"My what?"

"Here," she responded as she held her hand out, "Let me help you up. Do you remember two days ago when you saw that strange girl in the red mask?"

"You mean Sailor V?" Michiru asked, noting as Pluto lifted her that she was stronger than she looked.

"Yes, Sailor V. Sailor V is a Sailor Senshi, just as I am. And just as you are."

Michiru's eyes widened. "Me?"

Pluto took a deep breath. "I can better understand Serenity's decision now. Such news is better coming from a cat. More subtle, less threatening, with the added advantage of being almost whimsical." Ignoring Michiru's confused and questioning gaze she continued, "But as I've already said, we haven't much time, and thus I don't have the extravagance of a cat's subtlety at my disposal. Michiru, a new age is coming, but what kind of era it will be depends upon us, the Sailor Senshi. The Earth is about to be caught in a series of conflicts against enemies both new and centuries old."

She turned away from Michiru and began to walk towards something partially obscured by mist. Michiru followed. "Wait, please, I... I think there's been some sort of a mistake. I'm no warrior..."

"Twelve thousand years ago, I pulled this from the cold fingers of someone very close and dear to me," Pluto said, turning around with something wrapped in rotting leather. Patches in what remained of the leather had been hand-sewn in, and even the patches had an appearance of decrepit antiquity. "I now give it back to you."

"Back?"

Pluto strode over to her, an almost unbearable intensity flashing across her normally stoic eyes. "Guided by a new eon, you are Sailor Neptune." She then carefully placed the rotting leather package into Michiru's hands. "Unwrap it."

Michiru looked up at the taller woman, and noted the look of anticipation evident in her crimson eyes. Looking back down at the bundle in her hands, she began to peel the leather away, the timeworn and tattered material ripping and crumbling to dust under her fingertips to reveal a strange looking wand. It was light blue in color, and was topped with a shiny green crystal carved in a crescent shape, with a ring surrounding the crescent at an angle. A six-pointed star of gold jutted out of the top of the crystalline sculpture, with what looked like a stylized trident engraved into it (even though she'd never seen the symbol before, she somehow recognized it as the planetary symbol of Neptune). The other side of the wand ended in a golden orb, and as she held it she noted that the rod part fit perfectly in the palm of her hand, almost as if it had been tailored to her.

"Hold the henshin wand up," Pluto explained, "And say 'Neptune planet power, make up!'"

Michiru was about to protest again, but stopped. Pluto had an air of authority about her, and it wasn't as if the young freshman had much of a choice in the matter. After all, what was she going to do? Run? Run to where? And while swimming had made her more physically fit, the woman standing before her was taller than she was and had a large ornate staff that could easily double as a weapon. She also hesitated because, strange at it might seem, she was experiencing a sense of deja vu as she held the wand.

She held the wand up above her head. "Neptune planet power, make up!"

Michiru wasn't quite sure what happened next. If she had to, she might've describe the euphoric sensation as something of a cross between a religious ecstasy and an orgasm. The seas swirled and blew around her like a hurricane with her in the eye of the storm as her clothing disappeared, an ocean wind blowing up and around her. She closed her eyes and held out her hands as a fuku similar to that of Sailor Pluto and Sailor V formed itself around her, and she could feel the threads weaving themselves into place around her body as a tiara appeared on her forehead.

Opening her eyes again, she felt different.

She felt _powerful_.

"Destiny has chosen you, Michiru," Pluto said. "There is a great evil at work in the world, and it has recently struck within your school. Aya's death was no heart attack. She was attacked by a daemon, and her pure heart crystal was stolen from her."

"I see..." Neptune began, "Then the three of us are to stop the daemon, correct?"

"Three?"

"You did say Sailor V was one of us, correct?"

"She is, but she will not be helping you."

"Wait, I don't understand. You just confirmed that Sailor V is a fellow Sailor Senshi. Why wouldn't she be able to help us?"

"She can't. She musn't even know of our existence, not yet anyways. She has her own mission, one that only she can perform and which, even now, has called her to travel half a world away to England. You likewise have a mission..."

"Yes, I know," Neptune interrupted, "Catch the daemon that killed Aya, right?"

Pluto's face was unwavering as she shook her head. "No."

"**No**?" Neptune asked incredulously.

"This is bigger than Aya," Pluto began, "Bigger than your school, bigger than Japan even. I'm not all seeing, unfortunately, but from what I can see through my Time Gate the enemy appears to be hunting for the talismans necessary to create the Holy Grail. The Grail can either be used for great good or to unleash an unspeakable evil."

"Unspeakable evil?" Neptune asked. "What do you mean?"

"Neptune, do you not remember the dream of the great Silence?"

Neptune's eyes widened. "Then... that was real too?"

"Not if we can stop it. Your mission is to find the talismans first. The daemon struck your classmate because it thought the girl might have one of them within her. Sooner or later, one of the talismans will be found, and when that happens you must be there to snatch it first, to keep it out of the hands of our enemies."

"But... You say that one of these things stole Aya's pure heart crystal, and that's the true reason she died. If one of them finds one of the talismans and I take it away, the victim will still die, won't they? Only then I'd be the cause of their death, not the daemon. Correct?"

Pluto looked away from Neptune's gaze and sighed sadly. "This is a war, Michiru. A crusade, if I might borrow terminology a girl such as yourself with a Catholic background might better understand. Yes, innocent people will have to die, just as one already has, before this crusade is over. For what it's worth, we don't need the heart crystals of those who do not possess one of the three talismans. Those you may return to their rightful owners after you dispose of the daemon who stole them. Such is the path of a warrior that destiny has chosen for you. I wish I could tell you more, but for the moment I must not."

Neptune listened to everything Pluto had to say, and thought about all she'd just learned. Slowly, she began to frown as she narrowed her eyes at Pluto. "Then, if everything you've said so far is true, that means in essence that we are more or less equals, correct?"

"To a point, yes."

"Good. Then here's my conditions."

Pluto's eyes widened ever so slightly. "Conditions?"

"I won't be lied to or manipulated, nor will I allow myself to be patronized. If, as you say, there are reasons why you cannot divulge certain things to me at this time, fine, but do not think me a fool. This is no grand crusade, and I am no hero. The role you have cast for me is that of a vulture, a scavenger who must wait until innocent people are attacked to see if they are carriers of the talismans. 'Destiny' has given me the exact same mission as the enemy, only our ends differ. The carriers of the talismans will still have to die."

Pluto did not become angry by the outburst, nor did she seem apologetic either. If anything, she looked at Neptune with a bit of pity. "You see things very black and white, don't you?" she asked rhetorically. "Michiru, if you were able to travel back in time, to Austria in the year 1894, and ran into a five year old Adolph Hitler, would you be able to kill him? Or would you not, knowing that by not doing so you'd be sentencing six million Jews to death, to say nothing of the other victims of the holocaust and World War Two?"

Neptune was taken aback. "What kind of a question is that?"

"You've seen the dream, and the vision you saw is the same as the one I saw. All life on Earth, every man, woman, child, plant and animal down to the smallest of insects will be destroyed in the event known as the Silence. To prevent the Silence, we must have the talismans before the Death Busters do. This is a war, Michiru. It is a war for all of life on Earth, and if it should cost two or three lives to save six billion, then it must be."

Neptune was silent.

"When you come upon a daemon and wish to attack, say 'Deep Submerge!' and aim the attack at the enemy. Afterwards, close your eyes and will yourself to transform back into Michiru Kaioh. And now," she said as the mist surrounding them became thicker, "You must go back. Trust in your growing psychic powers. They will alert you to when Sailor Neptune is needed, and will help you to survive."

"No, wait!" Neptune yelled out as the mist began to slowly clear, "I..." her voice died off as she found herself once more in her dorm's bathroom at St. Agatha's. She closed her eyes as Pluto had instructed, and willed herself to transform back. This time she could feel the fuku dissolving around her even as power drained from the young girl, leaving her momentarily light headed. Once again she could feel cloth weaving itself around her, only now it was her nightgown reforming itself.

She left the bathroom a short time later and checked the time. It was four thirty in the morning. She wasn't scheduled to be up for another two and a half hours, but she knew she wasn't going to be getting any more sleep tonight. She turned the lamp on next to her bed and sat on the edge of her bed, still feeling frazzled and shell shocked from all she'd just learned. As she looked over to see her roommate still fast asleep, something suddenly occured to her.

"I should have asked about the blonde in my dream," she whispered to herself.

When morning came, Takayo was surprised to find Michiru already up and showered. After she had showered herself, both girls got dressed. Takayo noted with some concern that Michiru was quieter than usual that morning, as if something was heavily weighing on her mind.

"Michiru-chan," she asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Michiru responded as she covertly slipped her henshin wand into her violin case. "Why?"

Just then there was a knock at their door. Takayo answered it, and smiled pleasantly. "Konichiwa, Miyuki-san."

"Onee-sama?" Michiru asked, grabbing her books and violin case as she rushed to the door. Quickly bowing, she blushed involuntarily beneath the older girl's gaze. Miyuki had her hair pulled back into a pair of French braids, the bangs in front cut just above her eyebrows. The older girl's dark eyes seemed to mesmerize Michiru, holding her captive as she watched the light glitter and dance across their surfaces.

"Konichiwa, Michiru-chan."

"Onee-sama, I... What are you doing here?"

Miyuki chuckled a bit. "I was on my way to first period classes, and thought I'd stop by and see if you'd like to go with me as far as your own classroom. Of course, if you had other plans..."

"Michiru?" Takayo quipped, "Are you kidding?"

Michiru flashed her roommate an icy stare.

"Good. Then let's get going, ne?"

"Huh? Oh, hai," Michiru answered, consciously pushing last night's events out of her mind as she followed the older girl.

Elsewhere, Pluto was contemplating their conversation. It was funny how the old, familiar personality traits were still there just under the surface. As soon as the wonder and fear of the situation had subsided, Neptune's strong-willed personality flashed through the girl. Michiru had demanded not to be lied or manipulated with, and Pluto had given her word not to.

Ignoring the pangs of guilt threatening to rear their ugly heads, Pluto reasoned that she'd had to lie to Michiru, that it was for her own good and the situation demanded it. She needed Neptune, not just to hold back the tide of what was to come but to find Uranus. Just as fate had decreed that the love between Prince Endymion and Princess Serenity would unite them again in this day and age, so the unbreakable bond between Uranus and Neptune would soon begin to call out to Michiru. When that day came, surely she would forgive Pluto her machinations, wouldn't she?

Meanwhile, back in the St. Agatha's school library, something began to stir...

-To be continued-


	4. Chapter 4

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I don't own the series Sailor Moon or the character Sailor Neptune. Both are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

Author's Note: Naoko Takeushi seems to have a thing with naming villains after gemstones. Therefore, I named my villain Zultan after the gemstone zultanite.

-0-0-0-

-IV-

Michiru was able to forget the night's conversation for the brief time she walked to her homeroom with her sempai, but once there the conversation rushed back into her consciousness. So destiny had chosen her for this 'crusade,' eh? Well, _she_ didn't chose it, especially not after she'd contemplated all the implications of what Pluto had told her. She wanted to be a great concert violinist and to be a recognized artist. That was kind of hard to do when she was now expected to find the carriers of the talismans necessary to create the Holy Grail. Pluto wasn't simply asking her to follow some order from the fates, nor was she simply being asked to help stop the end of the world.

Pluto was asking her to give up her dreams. To set them aside perhaps forever in order to fight this battle. And why was she expected to fight it for her? Why couldn't Pluto fight her own battle? More importantly, couldn't she just as well give this henshin wand to anyone in order for them to become her agent? She could think of plenty of girls who were older, taller and stronger than herself who would probably jump at the chance to become Sailor Neptune. And, perhapse, they'd be able to live with being accessory to murder easier than she could.

Michiru was therefore resolved. She would not use the wand; in fact she'd _refuse_ to use it. Her life was already quite fulfilled enough, thank you, without being complicated by something like this. And when the opportunity again presented itself, she would hand Pluto her wand back and tell her so to her face.

At lunch, Michiru once again sat at her usual seat at the popular table. Of course, when the school season began, she had no idea of the geographic divides that invisibly separated off this area of the cafeteria from that. She didn't know this was the jock's table, or that was for the geeks. She simply chose the seat because it was by the window and afforded an unobstructed view of the small fenced in field behind the school. Because of her good looks and obvious graceful bearing the other occupants of the table simply accepted her as one of them. She was finishing her milk when the conversation at the table turned once more to Aya's death the previous day.

"I still can't get over it," one of the girls said morosely, "I mean, she was in my French class. I never hung out with her or anything, but…"

"You know," Miki said, the brunette lowering her voice as she leaned over the table as if she were passing on state secrets, "I think there might be a story here."

"Miki," the sophomore's sempai said exasperatedly, "You're a reporter for the school newspaper. You _always_ think there's a story."

"Yeah," another girl agreed, "She had a bad heart, and it gave out. End of story. Not everything's a conspiracy. Isn't that right, Michiru?"

Michiru frowned. This was most definitely not the kind of conversation she wanted to be having right now. "Well…"

"Michiru-chan."

Michiru turned to see her roommate Takayo coming over with some fellow freshmen. "Michiru-chan, I was telling some of my friends about that trick you showed me with your violin, and they wanted to see it for themselves."

Under other circumstances, she might not have been comfortable performing the trick in the middle of a crowded school cafeteria, but then it would get her out of this conversation. "Very well," she said as she stood up from the table. She opened her violin case, being careful not to let anyone see the want hidden in the case as she took out her violin and bow. Looking around the table, she saw one of the seniors with an unpeeled orange on her lunch tray, and smiled.

Meanwhile, Michiru's sempai Miyuki was just entering the cafeteria lunch line with her tray, the young gymnast deep in a discussion with two other juniors. "Really Akiko, I don't understand you sometimes."

"What's not to understand?" the other girl asked. "Class elections are just around the corner after all, and I think I can do things for this school. There's power involved in being student body president. The kind of power someone like myself could use to achieve ends others can't."

"You're starting to sound like the villain of a bad shoujo manga," the third girl said, a curly haired blonde with glasses. Akiko gave her a dirty look as Miyuki snickered.

"In all seriousness," Miyuki said once she was done laughing, "We have more pressing issues at hand. Isn't that right Beniko?"

"Right," the blonde responded, "The play."

"Have they decided on what it will be yet?" Akiko asked as she pushed her light purple bangs out of her eyes.

"It's to be 'The Passion of Joan of Arc.'" Beniko answered. "We have 'till Christmas to come up with a cast and produce the show."

"Hmmm…" Miyuki said thoughtfully. "Of course the hardest part is casting the lead. Joan's supposed to be a young maiden, and…" her voice died off as the sounds of several hands clapping could be heard accompanying violin music. The three juniors all exchanged glances as they followed the music around the corner. There, surrounded by her classmates, Michiru was playing her violin, bouncing an orange up and down on the edge of the instrument in rhythm to the tune. As the light from the sun shone through the large window and illuminated her aqua hair, Akiko smiled. Turning to Beniko and Miyuki, she crossed her arms triumphantly.

"Girls," she announced, "I think we just found our Joan."

-0-0-0-

The school library at the St. Agatha Girls' Academy was a large two story building nestled between the main gym and the greenhouse. The librarian's office was on the first floor, to the right as students and teachers came in. Principal Ichi knocked on the office door, the nun wishing to be shown the spot once more where poor Aya had collapsed.

The office door opened, and a young nun in the robes of a novice answered. "Yes, Ichi-sama?"

Principal Ichi expressed surprise. "You're not Sister Philomena," she said, "Where's the normal librarian?"

"She's... out," the young nun answered with a smile. "Perhaps I can help you though."

"Perhaps you can. You're new here, I haven't met you before."

"Yes," the novice answered. "I only just arrived a little less than two days ago. My name is Sister Traditor."

"Traditor?" Sister Ichi asked. Her Latin was rusty, but something about the novice's name made her uneasy. "I see. Well, Traditor, since you're here perhaps you could show me again where young Aya had her attack."

"Of course, Reverend Mother," Sister Traditor said as she exited the office and headed for the stairs, "Follow me."

-0-0-0-

"Kaioh Michiru-san?" Beniko asked. "I'll agree she's pretty enough, but isn't she a little, oh I don't know, stuck up?"

"Her onee-sama Miyuki doesn't seem to have any problem with her."

"Akiko, she's only been my kohai for two days," Miyuki argued, referring to the term used to describe the younger girls in the school's mentoring program.

"Oh please," Akiko said as she waved away the response, "Have you seen how she acts when you're around? It's obvious the girl idolizes you."

While the three juniors continued their discussion, Michiru smiled proudly as her audience clapped for her. She was just about to reach the finale, when she became aware of a strange noise. Her smile disappeared and the orange fell to the ground as she found herself involuntarily focusing on it. It was a soft noise, and she felt it more than actually heard it. As the girls around her shook their heads and made their disappointment known now that the show was over, she suddenly realized what the sound was.

It was the sound of waves breaking against the shore.

-0-0-0-

"This is the spot," Sister Traditor said as she led her to a dark corner of the library's second floor, surrounded by bookshelves containing stories of the Saints. "She said she wanted to learn from the Saints' examples, to be pure and holy. She had a very pure heart."

"Yes," Principal Ichi said with a heavy heart. "She'd once confided in me her wish to join a convent herself." Taking up the rosary she and the other nuns always had hanging at their sides, she made the sign of the cross. "Come, let us pray for the repose of her soul."

"Praying for the dead?" the novice asked with a sneer. "How sweet. To think so highly of someone who's already stiff is surely a sign of purity, ne?"

A chill ran down Principal Ichi's spine as the sense of unease returned. "Sister Traditor, what do you mean by such a remark?"

"I mean," she answered as she stalked closer, " That such a pure heart might be just what I've been looking for." She then held up her own rosary. Instead of a crucifix, a black five pointed star hung at the end of the stringed loop of beads.

Sister Ichi's eyes widened in shock. "Traditor... Of course! Now I remember, 'traditor' is the Latin word for **betrayal**!"

Sister Traditor simply laughed as she pointed the end of her rosary at the principal of St. Agatha's Academy...

-0-0-0-

"Michiru-chan?" Takayo asked, concerned by the strange look in her roommate's eyes, "Michiru-chan? What's wrong?"

"The sea is stormy."

"Huh?" Miki asked, the reporter looking just as confused as the others surrounding the violinist.

Michiru looked down at her violin case containing her henshin wand. She tried to ignore the sudden surge of adrenaline and the way the hairs were standing up on the back of her neck. She tried to remind herself of her earlier resolutions even as her pulse started racing to the point where it was drumming in her ears in rhythm to the waves crashing in her head and throughout her being.

She tried, and failed.

"Gomen," she said, holding the neck of her violin and the violin bow with one hand as she grabbed the case with the other hand and ran past her fellow students for the exit.

"Well," one of the older students smirked, "she didn't have to act like that just because she dropped the orange."

"I don't know..." Takayo said thoughtfully, "I think that was more than just embarrassment."

-0-0-0-

Michiru ran as fast as her legs would take her, across the parking lot and past the greenhouse until she breathlessly reached the library. As she ran up the steps, a nun in a novice's habit burst out through the door.

"Thank the Lord you're here!" the nun cried. "Quick, run to the nurse's office in the administration building. Principal Ichi has collapsed!"

"No!" Michiru gasped. "But… But wait, was there anyone else… that is," the violinist struggled to catch her breath as she tried to get her sentence out. "Did you see anything or anyone unusual around her?"

"What?" the novice asked irritably. "This is no time for questions. Go, run!"

Michiru nodded, but as she ran she resolved to come back and look around herself later. There was something about the novice that she didn't trust.

As the nun watched her run away, she smiled. "Heh, I didn't even need my daemon this time."

-0-0-0-

For a student to suffer a heart attack is considered a fluke and a tragedy. For both a student and the school principal to seemingly suffer the same medical emergency within twenty-four hours of each other was enough to cause a panic. After Principal Ichi was rushed by ambulance to Tokyo General, the school campus was put on lockdown. Obviously there was something more than congenitive heart conditions at work. While a possible gas leak was suspected, none of the administrators or students were to be allowed to leave their buildings until the mystery was solved.

Michiru watched the sun slowly set outside the window of her dorm room. As the campus was slowly cast into shadows, she went into her closet and pulled out her fall coat. Takayo's gym class had been cut short, and she and her fellow students had been ushered out and back to their dorm rooms before they could shower. As her roommate continued washing herself, Michiru quickly stashed her wand in her coat pocket and silently stole out of the room and out the back of the building.

Trying to stay hidden amongst the shadows, she ducked behind a rose bush, then dashed for cover behind an oak. As she made a dash for the cherry tree half a football's field length away, she was unaware that a disapproving pair of eyes saw her from within one of the higher classmen's dorm rooms.

At last reaching the cherry tree, a surprise was waiting her. "Miki!"

"Michiru?" the school reporter asked, "What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Michiru responded as she crossed her arms and stared down at the other girl.

"Well, I mean, come on; this is the biggest news story ever!" Miki declared. "And if I can get the inside scoop, my future as a reporter will be secured. But why are you out?"

"Let's just say I have my reasons," the violinist answered evasively. "Look, if we're both going to investigate, we'd best get moving before we're discovered, ne?"

Miki nodded, and the two were off once more. A few minutes later, both freshmen reached the front of the library. As they started slowly up the stairs to the door, a hand grabbed Michiru by the arm. The girl quickly turned her head, where yet another surprise greeted her. "O- Onee-sama!"

"Michiru-chan, what are you doing?" the junior asked. "I looked outside my window five minutes ago just in time to see you running around the campus grounds."

Before she could respond to defend herself, the library door opened. The sounds of breaking surf once more rang through Michiru's body as the same novice she'd seen earlier looked down at her and her two fellow students. "What is this?" she asked. "Don't you know you're not supposed to be out tonight?"

"G… Gomen," Miyuki said as she bowed to the nun, "Michiru-chan was outside, and I followed. As her sempai, her behavior and conduct are a reflection on me. Gomen."

Michiru looked at her sempai, and felt ashamed at having caused her to get in trouble like this. "Onee-sama…"

"Look," Miki blurted out, "We know there's something going on here, and we want to know what."

"Ah, I see," the nun smiled. "Three young girls, filled with a pure-hearted search for the truth. Come," she said, ushering the three girls in. "Don't just stand around, get inside before someone else catches you."

The three girls looked at one another and warily went into the building. "Come in, my little kittens," the novice said, her voice suddenly sounding sharper than it had when they were outside. "Just remember though," she said as she suddenly locked the library's double doors, "Curiosity killed the cat."

"What?" Michiru asked, the waves within her psyche suddenly swelling up into a typhoon.

The nun pulled out her rosary and pointed the black star dangling from it at Miki. The girl screamed as a black beam struck her. As Michiru and Miyuki watched on in horrified shock, a crystal came out of her chest and the would-be reporter collapsed to the floor.

"Michiru," Miyuki ordered, "Run!" the junior then tried to rush the nun, only to shriek out in pain and fear as the black beam struck her.

Michiru didn't wait for her sempai's crystal to materialize. She knew that if she was going to be able to do anything she had to put distance between her and the novice. She ran for the stairs, tripping once on the way over the carpet and badly scraping her shin. She could hear her onee-sama's body fall to the floor behind her as she reached the second floor and hid between two rows of bookshelves.

"Kitten," a voice called. "Come on out, kitten. You can't get away."

Michiru didn't move. Below, Zultan of the Witches Six removed her nun's habit and put her hand to her forehead. "Shit," she grumbled as she pushed a stray light blue lock of hair behind her ear, "I guess I'm going to have to release the daemon again after all." Turning to a janitorial closet by the library entrance, she unlocked it to reveal a glaring monster, with dark midnight blue eyes and long red claw-like nails. It wore what looked almost like a blue nun's habit, but with a gold upside down cross on the back of its costume.

"Go," Zultan ordered as she pointed towards the stairs. "Get the girl."

"Saintu, Saintu!" the daemon cried, leaping like a frog to the foot of the stairs.

From her hiding place, Michiru could hear the daemon bounding up the stairs towards the bookshelves. Swallowing hard, she knew it was now or never. She pulled her henshin wand out and held it over her head.

"Neptune planet power, **make up!**"

-To Be Continued-


	5. Chapter 5

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the Sailor Moon series or the character of Sailor Neptune, so please don't sue me.

Author's note: Just wanted to take a time out to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. Oh, and you were right Sark; traditor is the Latin word for betrayal, not traditio. The mistake has been corrected.

-0-0-0-

-V-

The daemon reached the top of the stairs, licking its lips as it started to slowly creep past the first two rows of bookshelves. It was about to make its way past the third, when an explosive noise startled it into backing up. Looking up, it saw what looked like a water spout shoot up from between the seventh and eighth rows, knocking nearby science and mathematic books into the air and out into the other aisles as it reached to the roof.

The daemon looked down at Zultan on the first floor. "Saintu?"

The witch was just as mystified as her daemon. "Don't ask me," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe the brat hit some weird sprinkler system hoping to touch off the alarm. Just get her now before we..."

"Guided by a new eon," a voice announced, "Sailor Neptune acts with grace."

Both witch and youma turned to see Sailor Neptune standing next to the aisle of now scattered books, the Senshi standing in a fighting stance.

"Cute," Zultan smirked. "Daemon, get rid of this clown and find the girl!"

"Saintu, saintu!" the thing cried as it lunged at the Senshi.

Sailor Neptune meant to only jump back a foot or two to get out of the youma's range, but instead she leaped back to the far wall of the library, some twenty feet back. When she finally landed, she looked almost as shocked as the daemon. "Pluto never told me about that," she mumbled to herself. Looking at the daemon in front of her, she remembered the words Pluto taught her. She didn't know whether it was instinct or simply that feeling of deja vu again, but she first raised her hands above her head, her body becoming a conduit as all the energies of the ocean's depths traveled through and around her, concentrating itself into a large blueish-green ball of kinetic energy, a ring circling it just as one encircled her henshin wand's crescent.

"Deep Submerge!" she cried out, sending the attack at the daemon. It traveled from her hands at incredible speed. Unfortunately, the thing was somehow able to leap out of the attack's way, the ball of energy instead plowing through three reference computers and the second floor rest room before blowing a very large circular hole out the second story east wall.

Neptune raised her hands up once more to attack, when her opponent landed just a few feet in front of her. The daemon aimed it's hand at her and three of its long red claws launched out at her, one missing the Senshi completely while the second and third ended up in her right shoulder and bicep. As Sailor Neptune shrieked out in pain, the youma grabbed her by the front collar of her fuku.

"Saintu, Saintu!" it growled, picking the injured Senshi up and hurling her over the second story railing towards the first floor below.

-0-0-0-

Outside the library, the sudden explosion on the second floor had the entire campus in an uproar. Students ignored the prohibitive curfew and ran out of their dorms even as the nuns tried to round the girls back up again. Sister Claire ran out of the greenhouse in alarm, the concussive impact of the explosion having broken several glass panels of the hexagonal building next to the library. Careful of the fallen glass all around her, she headed for the library in order to check on the safety of anyone who might still be in the building.

Back in the building, Zultan watched as Sailor Neptune tried to land on her feet on a table over by the biography section, only to have the table collapse beneath her with a crash. She frowned, turning away from the groaning Senshi as she pulled out a large leather sachet. This was more than she was prepared for. What's worse, there was no way she'd be able to stay now that her cover had been blown. Opening her pouch, she realized she'd have to grab the two heart crystals and run while she still could.

Sailor Neptune struggled uneasily to her feet, tears running down her cheeks as she painfully pulled out the two nails from her arm and shoulder. She could see the witch going towards her classmates while she could hear the youma up above her. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she grabbed the nearest two books and flung one at Zultan, hitting the witch's hand and causing her to drop her bag with a loud curse. She then turned her attention back to the daemon who was hopping down the stairs. It looked angry, scary, and ready to rip her apart limb from limb.

It did not, however, look very bright.

"Quick," Neptune yelled as she tossed it the other book, "catch!"

The daemon caught the book with both hands before it had time to think. "Saintu?"

Sailor Neptune took advantage of the confusion to raise her arms once more above her head for her attack. "Deep Submerge!" This time, she struck the youma full-blast. The thing screamed in pain as it dissolved into a small statue of St. Rita and struck the floor, a small seed then popping out of it and crumbling to dust. She turned her attention back to Zultan, who had run into the librarian's office.

"Damn you!" the witch shrieked as she locked the door behind her, "This isn't over between us, Sailor Neptune!" As a large white car with a black five-pointed star on the driver's side door crashed out through the wall of the librarian's office and raced off into the night, Neptune made her way to Miki and Miyuki, their heart crystals both still levitating in the air above them. She didn't know what the talismans were supposed to look like, but somehow she knew that these weren't them. Wiping more tears of pain from her eyes, she knelt down over the two unconscious girls.

They both looked like they were simply sleeping, and as she looked at her sempai an idea presented itself. "Forgive me, onee-sama," she whispered, "But this may be my only chance." She closed her eyes, bent down, and brought her lips to Miyuki's. The kiss was awkward and one sided, but it was still enough to make Neptune's heart race faster. Pulling back, she then quickly returned the heart crystals to their rightful owners. As Miki and Miyuki slowly began to come around, Neptune looked over at the pouch Zultan had dropped, and was surprised to see it floating slightly off the ground.

"Nani?" she asked as she opened it. There was a heart crystal inside it.

"Hello," a voice from outside the building called, "Is anybody in there?"

Neptune quickly closed the leather bag and jumped to the second floor, leaping from the gaping hole as Sister Claire from the greenhouse ran in, the nun shocked to find two groggy students lying on the floor and the library itself looking like some sort of wrecking crew had bet set loose inside it.

-0-0-0-

The nun lay in the hospital room, monitors and tubes sticking in her and displaying her vitals as the nurse and doctor quietly watched over her. "Dr. Mizuno, is there anything else I can do?"

The doctor sighed deeply as she shook her head. "We've tried everything, but it's not enough it would seem. Her metabolic readings are continuing to spiral downward. She's not going to make it."

The nurse nodded in understanding. "A representative from the convent will be here soon. You look frazzled. Care for a cup of coffee? My treat."

Dr. Mizuno looked over at the nurse and smiled weakly. "Thanks. You know," she said as she followed the nurse out of the room, "I wonder what my Ami-chan would think if she knew her mom really wasn't Mrs. Super Doctor..."

As the door to the room shut, the window to Mother Superior Ichi's room was opened from the outside. Racing from rooftop to rooftop, it had only taken Sailor Neptune roughly fifteen minutes to arrive at Tokyo General. Ignoring her own pain, she entered the room. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the third heart crystal must've belonged to, and as she took the glowing object out of the bag and walked over to the nun, Ichi opened her eyes.

The nun didn't have her glasses on, but she was able to make out the blurry shape of a beautiful young maiden wearing a crown and holding something shiny. "M... Mother Mary..." she weakly whispered.

Sailor Neptune returned the crystal to the principal, waiting until it was safely absorbed back into her before she exited through the window and headed back to St. Agatha's. Landing on the roof of her dorm building, she detransformed and quickly made her way in. The building was strangely quiet, and she made it into her room and then into the bathroom undetected. Reaching into the medicine cabinet, she quickly cleaned and bandaged the two nail wounds. There were black and blue marks all along her side and the upper thigh of her right leg, but luckily nothing showed thanks to her school uniform other than the scrape she had sustained to her shin when she'd first run up the library stairs. Her hands were shaking, and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead as she exited the bathroom and entered the room she shared with her roommate.

Noting that Takayo wasn't in the room, she looked out the dorm room window and saw everyone outside. She made her way out of the building and saw police and ambulance trucks parked out on the parking lot.

"Michiru-san?"

Michiru turned to see Sister Claire coming up to her with her sempai Miyuki. The freshman looked down awkwardly, "Onee-sama..."

"Michiru-chan, thank goodness you're alright," Miyuki said as she came over. "It's alright, Miki hasn't come to just yet, but the doctors say she'll be okay."

"I... I see..." Michiru said, a bit confused. "Tell me, what exactly do you remember?"

"She said she went out with you and Miki to investigate the library," Sister Claire answered. "She then said the three of you reached the building, and then she blacked out." The nun then crossed her arms as she stared at the violinist. "You realize of course that ignoring such a curfew is punishable by detention, even expulsion?"

Michiru silently nodded her head.

"Right then," the nun continued. "Just try not to let it happen again, okay?"

Michiru looked up at the nun in surprise. "You... You're not going to reprimand us?"

The nun chuckled a bit. "I'm just in charge of the green house," she said, "reprimanding would be a job for your teachers. Give me your word you won't do something like this again, and we'll let it go."

"Don't worry," Miyuki spoke up, "She does."

The nun turned away and headed back over to the greenhouse where a group of students were already starting to pick up the broken glass. Michiru turned to her sempai, "Onee-sama, I'm sorry for..."

"It's alright, Michiru-chan," Miyuki said as she crossed her arms, "Like Sister Claire said though, don't go running around after hours like that again, okay?" Looking closer at the freshman, she noticed something off in Michiru's eyes. "Michiru-chan, you are alright, aren't you? Do you need to have a doctor look at you?"

"No, really," Michiru answered, "I... I'm fine." She turned before she said or did anything more embarrassing in front of her sempai. As Miyuki watched the freshman walk away, she smiled. The girl could be a bit aloof, but was hardly stuck up as Beniko had said. Maybe she was right for the role of Joan after all. She certainly was beautiful enough, with her long wavy hair, deep blue eyes, and those full lips...

Miyuki stopped herself. "Where did _that _come from?" she muttered before heading back to her dorm room.

-0-0-0-

Michiru managed to make it back to her room right around the same time as her roommate Takayo. They'd found the librarian Sister Philomena unconscious but safe in the library basement. And that Sunday, there was a special mass to celebrate the Virgin Mary's healing of Reverend Mother Ichi.

Over the next few weeks, she went about her daily routine, somehow managing to keep her injuries from being discovered. She also continued to spend time with Miyuki, the two of them becoming almost inseparable to the point where Michiru now could feel at ease around the object of her crush.

During this period, there had been no further attacks by any daemons. And, while there was an ongoing official investigation into just what had happened that night in the library, Michiru's secret seemed safe for the moment. One night, three and a half weeks after the library incident, Michiru turned the lights off, said goodnight to Takayo, and went to sleep.

-0-0-0-

_She looked down at her unconscious sempai, and bent down to kiss her. Miyuki woke up and returned the kiss as she wrapped her arms around Michiru, opening her mouth so that the younger girl could deepen the kiss. As both girls began to moan, somewhere the sound of a woman's laughter was heard._

_Michiru looked up with a start. The laughter was neither malicious nor sinister, but mirthful. _

_"Your wasting your time dreaming of her, you know."_

_Michiru was indignant, "Wasting my time?"_

_"She can cause you to rise, but she'll never cause you to swell. She'll never be able to reach your depths, never know your soul. The ocean holds within itself great secrets, but it takes the right person to unlock them."_

_"What do you mean?" Michiru asked angrily, ignoring the vanishing image of Miyuki as she stood up and defiantly balled her hands up into fists. "Speak plainly."_

_"The sea cannot move a sailboat on its own anymore than it can create a hurricane or carry its briny salt-scent to the mariner's nostrils under its own power. No, to do any of those things, you need the **wind**."_

_"The wind?"_

_"Remember me," the voice said as it started to fade away, "Remember me..."_

-0-0-0-

Michiru opened her eyes with a start. "The wind?" she asked. "What did it mean, 'remember me?'"

She silently got out of bed and pulled out her henshin wand. "Pluto," she whispered so that Takayo wouldn't wake up, "If you can hear me, take this back. I don't know what you did to me, or why, but take it back." After a few seconds of nothing happening, she sighed and put the wand back. Laying back down, she eventually fell back into into a troubled sleep.

-To Be Continued-


	6. Chapter 6

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Sailor Neptune. Both are the property of Naoko Takeushi.

-0-0-0-

-VI-

She put out another cigarette in the already overflowing ashtray, blowing dark grey smoke out her nostrils as she turned on the computer screen. She hated computers. Sitting back from the now flashing screen with her arms crossed, she remembered the good old days of rune stones, tarot cards and scrying crystals. The druids of old used to divine the answers to their questions by slitting the throats of ritual victims caught in battle and reading the blood spatters. Ah, those were the good old days.

She took a drink of her coffee. It was just the way she liked it, with no cream and no sugar. She liked her coffee the same way she liked her men; bitter. She'd taken out another cigarette and lit it when the phone rang. "Hello, professor," she answered, the cigarette still clutched between her teeth, "What's up?"

"Zultan-san, have you found the talismans yet?"

Zultan took a long drag on her cigarette and exhaled. "Not yet Professor, but I think this computer of yours might've found something."

"Good," the maniacal voice on the other end said, "I have a new daemon ready for you. And is there any information on that sailor person?"

"None professor, I…"

"Sama."

"Professor?"

"Let's get one thing straight now," the voice on the other end said, "We are not now, nor will we ever be, on first name only basis. When you address me you will address me as professor-sama, understand?"

Something in the professor's voice unnerved her. "Very well, 'professor-sama.' No, I can't find anything about this 'Sailor Neptune.' It's like she just popped out of nowhere."

"I see. If she should show her face again and try to get in your way, you know what to do."

Zultan took another puff on her cigarette. "Hai, professor-sama."

-0-0-0-

The first Saturday in November was unusually cold. The repairs to the library were still ongoing, but luckily the greenhouse was repaired in time to save the many plants. There were seasonal and perennial flowering plants of every shape and color, their fragrances mixing and clashing with one another in the heavy humidity of the greenhouse. There were also exotic leafy plants, and a section set aside for a small vegetable garden.

In a small room in the back of the greenhouse, a kettle started to whistle. Sister Claire turned the diminutive burner stove off and poured out two cups, one for herself and one for her guest. She then went out, past the evergreen bush and to the left of the tomatoes, and set the cup next to her guest's easel on a small tray she'd set up for her not five minutes ago. "I wasn't sure how you liked your tea," the nun explained, "So I chanced one lump with cream. Did you want two lumps?"

Michiru turned to Sister Claire, her long aqua colored locks were pulled back into a pony tail, save for a stray hair or two that seemed to frame her attractive young face. She held a pallet of paint in one hand and a medium sized flat headed brush in the other. The painting of the sunflowers she'd chosen as her subject was three-quarters done, its colors unusually subdued for one of her paintings. "Arigato," she said, placing her brush in the large container of paint thinner before carefully setting her pallet down and taking the cup. "One lump will be fine."

Sister Claire looked from Michiru to the painting. "Michiru-chan, is something wrong?"

Michiru took a sip of tea. "Wrong?" she asked with raised eyebrow.

"Your painting, it looks so... somber. I've seen some of your other paintings, and this one's different somehow."

The young artist set her cup back down. "Claire-sama, have you ever..."

"Ever what?"

"Have you ever been told to do something you didn't want to do? Something that you had to do, no matter how much you objected to or resented it?"

Sister Claire was silent for a moment. "Come with me for a second," she finally said, turning to go back into her small room in the back. Michiru followed, surprised by how small the accommodations were. Most of the other nun's offices were at least twice as big. That was nothing compared to the surprise that awaited her when she saw the books on the first of two bookshelves in the room.

"_Applied Quantum Physics_, _Analytical Algebra_, _Chaos Theory_..." Michiru's voice died off as she saw the framed document on the wall. "A diploma in Applied Sciences from Harvard?" Looking back over at Sister Claire, she saw the nun in a new light. "Forgive me for asking, but why aren't you teaching? If you have a Harvard diploma, why are you tending to a green house?"

Sister Claire smiled sadly as she motioned to the other bookshelf. Michiru looked at the new titles, "_The Case for Women in the Priesthood_, _A Defense of Liberation Theology_, _The Search for the Historical Jesus_..."

"Ideas are a funny thing, Michiru-chan," Sister Claire said, "Sometimes, ideas can win you acclaim and honor, other times they can be seen as dangerous and in need of suppression. I'm here tending this greenhouse because both the bishop and Mother Superior Ichi figure I'm less dangerous here than if I were in a classroom, allowed to 'infect young minds with my radicalism.'" Meeting Michiru's gaze, the nun smiled. "Come on," she said, "Let's get back out there before your tea goes cold."

"Then wait," Michiru said as she followed after the nun, "Do you mean to say you're here as some sort of punishment?"

"I suppose you could say that, yes," Sister Claire answered as she sipped her tea. "Mmm, should've had biscuits with this."

"But... But couldn't you just agree not to discuss any radical ideas in the classroom? You're a Harvard graduate, surely you..."

"Michiru-chan," the nun said as she set her teacup down on its saucer, "You asked me if there was ever something I had to do, something I didn't necessarily agree with, but felt compelled to do anyways. There are certain things about the church which I love a great deal, but many others which I feel are wrong both as a nun and as a woman, and so I feel compelled to object to and protest. I am here because there's a price to be paid for such convictions. There's always a price to be paid for doing such things. It goes with the territory."

Turning her back to Michiru as she looked at one of the larger leafy plants, she continued. "Once in every person's lifetime, a man or woman will encounter something bigger than themselves that they feel compelled to fight. Why?" Sister Claire asked as she turned back to Michiru, "Have you found yourself in such a battle?"

Michiru was silent as she pondered what to say next. "Claire-sama," she finally said, "What if... What if I have found myself in such a battle, but it's not a battle I want to fight? What if it's one I'd rather not have to, but I feel like I have to anyways?"

Sister Claire simply smiled. "Those are the kinds of battles we most need to fight, Michiru-chan."

A short time later, after finishing her painting, Michiru began to pack up her easel and paints. Takayo came into the greenhouse building looking for her roommate, her red hair tussled by the wind outside. She brushed a fallen leaf off her light brown jacket as she came over. "Michiru-chan, are you almost ready? Our sempai are waiting for us."

"Hai," Michiru said. She then took the painting she'd just finished and carefully handed it to Sister Claire. "For you," she said, "Maybe it'll brighten up your small room."

"Arigato," the nun answered, "Come back to talk any time."

As the two girls left the greenhouse, the chilly November wind swept around them. "Brrr," Takayo shuddered as she stuck her hands deep in her coat pocket, "Come on, let's hurry before our sempai give up and leave without us, I... Michiru-chan?" she asked, turning around to see her roommate standing facing the breeze with her arms outstretched, her hair flowing wildly behind her like an ocean current.

"The wind," she whispered as the cold wind currents encircled and enclosed her like a lover's embrace, "Remember..."

"Michiru-chan, what are you doing?"

"Hmm?" the teal-haired artist asked as she opened her eyes.

"The fall festival, remember?" Takayo said exasperatedly, "Chieko-sama and Miyuki-sama invited us to go with them to the fall festival."

"Oh… Oh right," Michiru said, shaking her head to clear herself.

"What's with you anyways? You don't normally space out."

Michiru sighed as she pushed her bangs back with her hand. "We all have our moments it would seem, ne?" she asked as she quickly walked up to and past her roommate, heading for the area of the parking lot in front of the cafeteria where both girls agreed to meet their sempai. Takayo watched her with a puzzled expression before shaking her own head and following after her.

-0-0-0-

The fair was packed with children and adults from the three nearby boroughs, all looking forward to the fair rides and amusements such as the tunnel of love and house of mirrors. There were also vendors of food and the games area filled with men of all ages trying to win stuffed presents for their girlfriends. Takayo and her sempai Chieko looked around happily as they both discussed which amusement to go to first.

Behind them, Michiru and her sempai were having quite a different conversation.

"Onee-sama, are you still going on about that play?"

"It's not just any play, Michiru-chan," Miyuki explained as she tried to sell Michiru on the idea. "Imagine it; Joan's in the hands of the enemy, on trial for her life. She's persecuted and eventually burned at the stake for her beliefs."

"I know Joan's story, onee-sama. And I'm more than willing to contribute my time to painting and designing the background scenery, or playing my violin in the orchestra during the play's performance. But as for actually being the lead, I'm no actor."

"Then don't think of it as acting," Miyuki suggested with a grin, "Think of it as performance art."

Michiru put her hand over her mouth as she giggled at the remark. "Be serious."

"I am being seious," Miyuki answered. "You're one of the most popular freshman at St. Agatha's, as well as being one of the most talented and most looked up to. Besides," she added, "you're also the most beautiful girl in your freshman class."

Michiru smirked. "Anybody listening in on this conversation who didn't know better would think you were flirting with me."

Miyuki's smirk faded as she looked at her more seriously. "If I was, Michiru-chan, would that really be so bad?"

Michiru froze on the spot, her cheeks flushing red as she processed what her sempai just said. "Onee-sama?"

"Heh, nothing," Miyuki said quickly, "Forget I said anything."

"Ah, good afternoon young ladies."

Both girls turned their attention to a jovial looking middle-aged man with a thick black mustache and his hair combed over an obvious bald spot. "And how are you two enjoying my fair?"

"Your fair?" Miyuki asked.

"Hai," he answered, beaming with pride as he bowed to the girls. "My name's Toru Enomoto, and I've been working for the last eleven months contacting vendors and rides operators, haggling with local polititians and advertisers, all to make sure this year's fair would be the best ever."

"You certainly seem to have succeeded," Michiru managed to say, her blush still present from Miyuki's remark, "Everyone seems to be having a wonderful time."

"Glad to hear it," Toru said with a smile, bowing to the two girls cordially before he went off to welcome others to the Fall Fair.

As he was talking to a mother with her young son, a woman in a yellow and orange dress with light blue hair came up to him. "Excuse me," she said, "But are you Enomoto Toru-sama, the gentleman behind this fair?"

"Hai, that's me," he answered, "How can I help you?"

"Well," Zultan answered in a worried tone, "I'm afraid there's something wrong with one of the rides."

"What?" Toru asked in shock. "Which one?"

"The tunnel of love," she said, "Come with me, I'll show you…"

-0-0-0-

"Michiru-chan," Miyuki began hesitantly, "I… I want to apologize for my stupid little remark."

"No, don't," Michiru said, putting her hand over her sempai's. Both girls looked down at their joined hands, then into each other's eyes. "Onee-sama…"

"Please," her sempai interrupted, "We don't need to be so formal outside of school. Call me Miyuki."

"Alright, Miyuki-chan," Michiru responded, her throat going dry as she searched for the right words. "You don't have to apologize for what you said, you…" Michiru stopped mid-sentence as eyes suddenly widened and she drew in a sharp breath.

"Michiru-chan?" Miyuki asked in alarm as a look of fear spread over the younger girl's face. "Michiru-chan, what's wrong?"

She could sense it again, the storm suddenly rising out of a calm sea without warning. Looking around with a frantic look in her eyes, she saw the tunnel of love and felt as if the pounding surf would sweep her away.

"Michiru…"

"Stay here," the Senshi said in an authoritative tone that took the older girl by surprise. "I'll be right back." She ran off towards the tunnel of love, her anger over having the moment between herself and Miyuki interrupted momentarily overcoming her fear of what might be waiting for her.

-To Be Continued-


	7. Chapter 7

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor do I own the character of Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi. I also don't own the rights to the Rolling Stones song mentioned in this chapter.

-0-0-0-

-VII-

"So, what exactly seems to be the problem?" Toru asked as he followed the young woman with the light blue hair and long peach-colored coat to the tunnel of love. The neon light in front of the ride had been turned off, and an "out of order" sign was draped across the entrance to keep patrons out.

"I'm not sure," Zultan explained as she lifted the sign up for herself and Toru to duck under. "As you know, the boats slide on a motorized track under the water through the tunnel. For some reason, the track is not working properly around the third bend in the tunnel. Here," she said as she led him into the dark tunnel and onto a small section of dry land alongside the water, "Follow me and I'll show you."

-0-0-0-

She saw the two walk together into the tunnel of love, and her pulse increased as she reached into her coat pocket and grabbed her henshin wand. It was cold against her bare hand, and even as she reached the out of order sign she hoped that she was wrong, that she wasn't really needed.

The man's scream from inside the tunnel wiped out any hope for Michiru. She grimaced as she clutched the wand until her knuckles turned white, slowly walking into the dark tunnel and waiting anxiously for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Once they did, she crept up to the edge of where the tunnel curved to the right and peered around the corner.

There were at least five boats stopped in a row, each one carrying an unconscious couple slumped over breathing heavily. On a small shoreline Toru lay on his back, a look of pain and fear frozen on his face as his heart crystal floated above him. Zultan stood a few feet away, coldly looking down at her victim as he continued to groan.

Michiru had seen enough. She stepped back out of Zultan's visual range and held up her wand. "Neptune planet power, Make Up!"

-0-0-0-

"Damn," the witch grumbled. "Not a talisman. Still, the professor can still probably make some sort of use out of it…"

"Guided by a new eon, Sailor Neptune acts with grace."

Zultan looked up and narrowed her eyes. "You again?"

Sailor Neptune leaped over to her, placing herself between Zultan and Toru. "You shall not have his crystal," she said as the crystal slowly lowered back into the fair organizer's chest, "Not today."

"Maybe not," she said as she reached into her long coat and pulled out a gas mask. "But then, you'll not be interfering with me or my plans after today again, either." Flashing a remote control device, she quickly pushed a button as she put her gas mask on. On the far wall of the tunnel a panel opened in the faux rocky surface, revealing the familiar car with its black five-pointed star painted on the driver's door. Its rear hatch opened up to reveal a large metallic box. As Zultan pressed another button on the remote, the box opened, allowing a daemon to escape.

Sailor Neptune stepped back as she caught sight of the thing. It had a large bulbous head, with dark green and maroon bumps covering its entire body. Clumps of moss and disgusting patches of yellow algae seemed to ooze from its porous flesh, and instead of a face it seemed to just have a single yellow-green blob where its eyes should've been.

"Tripu, tripu," it gurgled as it set its sites on the young Senshi.

"Get rid of this pest once and for all," Zultan ordered as she ran towards one of the boats.

"Wait!" Neptune yelled as she started to follow.

"Tripu, tripu," the thing said again as a brown, foul-smelling gas was released from its body. As Neptune began to cough on the noxious fumes, the witch hopped off the boat she'd jumped onto and off to the opposite shore, pressing one more button on her remote before jumping into her car and making her escape through a secret passage that opened just long enough for her to drive through before it closed again behind her.

"Breathe in, tripu," the thing hissed as more fumes were released, "Loose yourself, give in to the colors."

Neptune's eyes began to burn, and as she continued to cough and her nose started to run, multi-colored strobe lights began flashing within the cave as very loud music started playing out of hidden stereos within the walls. As Sailor Neptune opened her eyes to try to focus on what was going on around her, she saw the walls starting to melt and run into the river in front of her.

_Please allow me to introduce myself  
__I'm a man of wealth and taste  
__I've been around for a long, long year  
__Stole many a man's soul and faith_

Neptune did more than see the lights and hear the music that Zultan had turned on with her remote; she could _hear_ the colors coming from the strobe lights. Red was the loudest, while yellow had a nasally quality to it, and the purple sounded like breaking glass.

_And I was there when Jesus Christ  
__Had his moment of doubt and pain  
__Made damn sure that Pilate  
__Washed his hands and sealed his fate_

"Give in, tripu," the thing slurred out as it began to move forward, "Don't fight it."

Sailor Neptune looked around frantically at the others in the tunnel. Toru now looked like an origami man made out of brownish orange paper. The various couples still unconscious in their boats suddenly had insect heads, with one even seeming to be busy wrapping itself up into a cocoon.

_Pleased to meet you  
__Hope you guess my name  
__But what's puzzling you  
__Is just the nature of my game_

Neptune couldn't think clearly, not between the music, the lights and the horrifying images she was seeing. Her heart was pounding as she looked back at the part of the cave she'd just come from, only to see that it had turned into the jaws of a great black snake.

_I stuck around St. Petersburg  
When I saw it was a time for a change  
Killed the czar and his ministers  
Anastasia screamed in vain_

Her lower jaw quivered, and as the youma came ever closer she covered her ears and screamed, watching as her scream flowed out her mouth in bright neon blue dayglow letters.

"_Trust in your growing psychic powers. They will alert you to when Sailor Neptune is needed, and will help you to survive."_

Neptune's eyes widened as she remembered Pluto's words. Closing her eyes, she desperately tried to reach out with her mind.

_I rode a tank  
Held a general's rank  
When the blitzkrieg raged  
And the bodies stank_

"Illusions," she whispered. Opening her eyes again, she now understood that the youma's gas was causing her to experience the strange hallucinations. She needed to get out of the tunnel, to get somewhere where she could breath and try to fight the effects of the daemon's attack.

_Pleased to meet you  
__Hope you guessed my name_

"Deep Submerge!" she screamed, sending the attack into the ceiling, "Deep Submerge!"

The two attacks had the desired effect of blowing a hole in the ceiling of the ride. As the caustic brown smoke started to billow out and the music and lights continued on, Sailor Neptune jumped out of the ceiling just before the youma reached her.

-0-0-0-

Miyuki looked at her watch and sighed. "I'll be right back," she mumbled, remembering Michiru's words. She never meant to scare her freshman charge off like that. Truth was, she'd been experiencing confused feelings for Michiru for close to a month now, ever since the library incident. The comment just came out without her thinking about it. If she could take the comment back, she would, but…

**-KA-BOOM!-**

The junior nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud explosion. It seemed to come from the tunnel of love. Miyuki remembered with a sinking feeling that Michiru had gone off in that direction, and began to run past startled parents and children towards the closed amusement attraction.

**-KA-BOOM!-**

This time the sky seemed to light up with a bright blue flash, as if someone had set off fireworks. As Miyuki caught Takayo and Chieko out of the corner of her eye, black smoke started to billow out of the top of the ride and a strange-looking girl emerged wearing a tiara and a bright aqua-green sailor themed costume.

"Look," a girl cried out, "They must be putting on some sort of kids show."

Parents and children suddenly came crowding foreward to see the show as Takayo made her way to Miyuki. "What's going on? Are they filming an episode of Kamen Rider?"

Miyuki shook her head, "I don't think so," she said thoughtfully as the girl in the strange dress began frantically running away from the rising pillar of smoke, "That doesn't look like any costume from Super Sentai either."

"Might be a new show," Chieko suggested as she came over. A monster now emerged from the black smoke, some kids booing it while others simply laughed and clapped at the fun entertainment being offered for their amusement.

-0-0-0-

"Trying to escape, tripu?" the thing asked as it leaped out of the hole after Sailor Neptune, "Silly girl, there is no escape, tripu, tripu…"

Neptune closed her eyes and rubbed them as she continued to cough.

"No escape…"

-0-0-0-

_She opened her eyes to find herself in the burning kingdom from her dream again, the pain from her injuries once more causing her to double over in pain.__ In front of her stood Pluto, a look of grim determination in her face. "You cannot escape your duty," she said authoritatively._

"_We know our duty, Pluto-sama," a strangely familiar voice yelled out, "Our duty is to die defending Serenity."_

"_It's too late for that," Pluto said, "The princess is already dead, as is Endymion. The queen herself has given the word. We must leave the field of battle to awaken the Senshi of Silence."_

_Neptune tried to turn her head to see the other speaker, but instead of the blonde from the first dream she now saw a woman with red hair and a maniacal grin floating in the air in front of her, laughing._

-0-0-0-

"You dare laugh at this, Beryl?"

The youma stopped and seemed to tilt its head in puzzlement. "Tripu?"

"You've destroyed the kingdom," Sailor Neptune shouted at the daemon as she shook with rage, "You've murdered the royals and the princess' guardians, thinking yourself greater than Serenity herself. But victory shall not be yours. Not now, not **ever!**"

"Tripu, _what_? Wait, I…"

"Deep Submerge!" she screamed, sending the attack at the youma with all her might. The thing let out a shrill scream before dissolving into a clump of poisonous mushrooms, a small pod slowly popping out of it before crumbling to dust.

The burning palace dissapeared as Sailor Neptune sunk to her knees, coughing and gasping for air while the brownish-black smoke from the tunnel of love finally dissipated out into the air. As she sat back on her legs, she became aware of a loud noise to her left. Looking down from the roof, she could see a large group of kids and parents clapping and cheering enthusiastically now that the "show" was over and the hero had won.

Neptune stood up, brushed her bangs back with her hand and leapt into the air, landing behind the ride. "Did you see that?" she faintly heard one boy say, "I couldn't even see any wires!"

-0-0-0-

After a few minutes, the crowd slowly started to thin out. As a group of security guards were called over to the tunnel of love to investigate the insident, Takayo saw a familiar face coming over. "Michiru-chan, where have you been?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips as she readied herself to scold her roommate, "You missed everything, you… Michiru-chan?" she asked as she got a better look at the other girl, "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

"Michiru-chan," Miyuki said with concern as she saw the girl's blood-shot eyes and put her hand to the girl's forehead, "You feel clammy. Are you okay?"

"I- I think- That I- I…" she didn't get to complete the sentence before rushing away from her sempai and towards the nearest trash can. Leaning over it, she let go and threw up.

A short time later, Takayo, Chieko and a very worried Miyuki brought Michiru to the first aid station. Her three classmen were told to stay in the waiting area as she was quickly escorted into an examination room where a nurse with long hair was already waiting with her back turned.

"We have a very sick school girl here," the receptionist said at the door, "Possible smoke inhilation from that whole kids' show thing over at the tunnel of love, and what looks like symptoms of food poisoning."

"Yes, thank you," the nurse said, "I'll take over from here." As the receptionist left the examination room and shut the door behind her, the nurse turned around. "Hello again, Michiru-san."

Michiru's eyes widened in surprise. "P- Pluto-sama!"

-To Be Continued-

End Notes: This chapter was partially based on a Venus and Saturn story by Shanejayell, in which Minako and Hotaru were actors in a Sailor V TV show.

Thanks again to everyone who has read and reviewed so far. It means a lot, and it really does inspire me to keep writing for you.


	8. Interlude 1

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character of Sailor Neptune. Both are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude I-

The two students walked across the tatami mat, both dressed in their gi and both trying just as hard not to let their nervousness show. They both turned to their sensei and bowed respectfully. Their sensei stood up from the midst of the others in his judo class and bowed back. He had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, that somehow the choice would be made somewhat easier for him, but unfortunately both pupils were equally talented, and there was only one opening this season for a promotion to black belt.

Thus the two students now found themselves this afternoon ready to spar, the winner would be promoted while the loser would have to wait until next season. They turned to each other, bowed, and assumed fighting stances.

The brown-haired boy attacked first, attempting to sweep his opponent's legs out from underneath. His opponent managed to block and attempted an arm lock. He grabbed the other student's wrist before they could fasten the lock though and, turning quickly, was able to flip his opponent over. Thinking the match over, he went for a lock of his own, but was caught quickly by surprise when his opponent pulled him down and grappled him into a choke hold, one which very quickly forced him to tap.

The actual match lasted less than a minute, but the decision was final.

The two students stood up, bowed to one another and to their sensei. The winner reached up and undid the small band that had kept her long shoulder-length blonde hair back in a ponytail as she made her way to her sensei.

"Well done," the sensei said with a smile. "You have displayed true skill in defeating Kenji. You have truly earned your black belt, Tenoh-san."

-0-0-0-

"So wait," Hironari said as he spoke to the young teen underneath the racecar they were working on, "You had to duel someone to earn the belt?"

"No, we didn't duel," Haruka laughed as she slid her creeper out from underneath the car. She wore a mechanic's uniform and had her long hair pulled up underneath a gray cap. "We sparred. You only duel if you're trying to kill somebody."

"Still, that's so neat," her fellow mechanic said as he struck an action pose, "Just like Bruce Lee!"

Haruka laughed harder. "Baka…"

"Hey now," Hironari said as he pointed his wrench at her, "Watch it or I'll tell everyone what I caught you doing to that older girl in the back."

"Threatening a black belt can be dangerous," she said with a smirk. "Incidentally though, exactly why _didn't _you turn me in last week when you caught us?"

"Two reasons. One, we're pals, and pals stick together."

"And two?"

"Two, I have a thing for hentai, remember?"

Haruka shook her head. "Two girls kissing and tentacle rape are two completely different things, Hironari-kun."

Hironari was about to make another comment when he caught sight of the clock. "Uh-oh. Isn't it nearly time for your curfew?"

Haruka looked up at the clock as well, and let out a sigh. "Hai, it is. I guess it's just about time to get out of these greasy mechanic's rags and put that thing back on."

"That 'thing'?"

Haruka frowned as she got up from the creeper. "The school uniform, the dress," she said with evident distaste.

"Wow," Hironari said with a smirk, "You really don't like dresses, do you?" Instead of answering, the blonde simply gave him a dirty look. "Well, look on the bright side. Tomorrow's the big track meet, so you'll be in a pair of running shorts for a little while at least, right?"

"Hurray for me," she said acerbically as she left the garage and headed for the locker room.

A short time later, she returned to her school. The classes were over now, and the sun was setting over the horizon as she reached the students' apartments. Before going to her room, she made a quick side trip to the post office boxes by the administration building, hoping to find the packet she'd sent away for from Mugen Academy. She knew they only accepted the top-tier students academically, which for her wouldn't be a problem at all. She also knew that Mugen Academy carried a certain level of prestige within academic circles, but that wasn't what attracted the freshman.

It was the chance to start new, with a clean slate.

Her track coach said it best when she'd said she seemed to run not just for the sport of it, but with a purpose. But whether she was running towards or from something was what her coach never could seem to figure out. Haruka knew though. At first she'd run toward her dreams of Formula 1 racing and martial arts. Then she'd tried to run from her confusing feelings towards other girls (she'd lost that race). But mainly, she ran away from her parents.

Her parents didn't understand her, and so they tried to "cure" their tomboy with piano lessons. They made her wear dresses at home, and enrolled her in a school with a strict dress code for female students. They brought her to a minister in order to have her "exorcised" of her rebelliousness. She took to the piano, but from then on she began to run from her parents control over her. She wanted desperately to live her own life as she wanted to live it. But she didn't know how.

Mugen Academy was on the other side of Tokyo. It was far away from parental control, but it was also prestigious enough that if she got in her parents wouldn't be able to deny her wishes.

The package from Mugen wasn't there. With a sigh, she turned and headed towards her student apartment.

-0-0-0-

_It was the day of the race. All the racers were lined up on the starting line, including her. A light warm breeze blew behind her as the starter raised his gun and fired. Haruka bolted up into a run, leaving the others far behind her. The light breeze suddenly picked up, pushing the racer as she struggled suddenly to move her legs fast enough to keep up. Looking around, the blonde could see trees and buildings whizzing by as she left the school behind. She was now on a freeway, weaving her way past cars and motorcycles as the wind at her back pushed her faster and faster._

_She ran past the city, past telephone lines and small rural towns, until at last she began to see the beach coming up in front of her, the crest of the waves of the ocean gently flowing to shore past the large finish line held up by two black poles in the surf. Haruka ran across the beach, into the water, and across the finish line before she collapsed._

_She was on all fours, trying to catch her breath as the waves caressed her arms and legs. She drank in the scent of the ocean as sweat poured down her forehead and her hair clung in sweaty locks to her shoulder and back._

"_This isn't you."_

_Haruka looked around, confused. "What?"_

"_You grow your hair long to please others. You wear dresses to please others. You aren't the girl I remember."_

"_Girl you remember?" Haruka asked as she stood up in the ankle-deep surf and looked around. "What are you talking about? Who…"_

"_The girl I remembered was brave to the last. She'd defy the devil himself to the face when it came to those things that were most important and precious to her, including her self-identity." The tide seemed to swell slightly as the voice continued, "My soul cries out to you my love, but not like this. Become the person you truly are, on the inside. Shed off the costume, remove the layers and reveal yourself." _

_Haruka became increasingly frustrated. "Enough! Who are you?"_

"_I am the hidden depths, coursing and swirling deep within the oceans of being."_

_Haruka's eyes widened. "Oceans of being?"_

"_Remember me," the voice whispered as the tide quickly receded, "Remember…"_

-0-0-0-

Haruka opened her eyes and looked around her room. It was still dark outside. A quick check of the clock told her that it was twelve past five.

"Shed off the costume," the blonde repeated as she thought of the dream, "Remove the layers." Getting out of bed in her pajamas, she went into the bathroom. Opening the medicine chest, she pulled out the scissors and stared at them as she closed the chest back up.

She stared at the scissors for a while longer before looking at herself in the mirror.

_Remove the layers._

She knew what her parents reaction would be. She also had a good idea of what her instructors and fellow students would think and gossip behind her back. But after the dream none of it seemed to matter anymore to Haruka. She held the scissors with one hand as she grabbed a lock of her hair with the other.

Clip.

She grabbed another, larger lock.

Clip, clip.

She began to chuckle as the sandy-blonde hair fell into small piles around her. It was a sensation beyond simple catharsis, beyond a weight being removed from her shoulder. She was peeling back a mask, removing an alias forced upon her by others. Her hands seemed to take on a life of their own as she continued cutting.

Clip, clip, clip.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, as she emerged out onto the track, she could hear the gasps (and some laughter) from her fellow classmen. Looking over to one of her school's cheerleaders, she felt bold enough to give the girl a smile and a wink of her teal eyes, noting with a bit of surprised satisfaction that the girl blushed and looked away.

Taking her place on the starting line, one of her fellow runners gave her a look. "Haruka-chan? What's with the haircut? You look like a guy."

"Streamlining," the blonde answered with a smirk. "Cuts down on wind resistance."

The other runner just shook her head, causing Haruka to grin even more as she thought of what the reaction would be when she showed up for school Monday in a boys uniform.

"On your mark," the starter announced as he held the gun up in the air. Pulling the trigger, Haruka shot up and ran. She had the wind at her back, but she now knew she was no longer running away.

-End Interlude-


	9. Chapter 8

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character of Sailor Neptune. Both are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

-0-0-0-

-VIII-

"How are you feeling?" Pluto asked as she came over carrying two cups.

Michiru glared angrily at her. "How am I feeling?" she asked incredulously. "Are you serious? How do you _think _I'm doing? I have a headache, I got sick in front of my friends, and ever since meeting you I've been having recurring nightmares. Also, I've fought two monsters now alone, and both times I nearly lost. If you're my fellow Senshi, why are you never anywhere around to help me?" She then brought her hand back up to her forehead, wincing at her headache. "And to top everything else off, I think I've fallen into a love triangle between my sempai and the wind."

Pluto's eyes widened suddenly. "The wind?"

Michiru shook her head. "Don't ask."

Pluto nodded, but the intense look in her eyes didn't fade. "First thing's first. Here, take these," she said, offering one of the two paper cups she had to Michiru. Inside the cup were two small pills. "It'll help with the effects of the daemon."

Michiru took the two pills and placed them in her mouth. Taking the second cup, which contained water, she swallowed them down. "Pluto-sama, why weren't you there to help me?"

Pluto sat down next to Michiru on the examination table and drew in a deep breath as she crossed her legs. "There are certain rules I'm forced to follow, taboos which I am not allow to break. One of them is that, under normal circumstances, I'm forbidden to abandon my post at the Gates of Time."

Michiru finished off the water. "Then why are you here now?"

Pluto gazed searchingly into Michiru's eyes. "You say you've been having recurring nightmares. During your battle with this last daemon you mentioned both Beryl and Serenity, and you just now made mention of the wind. Michiru, just how much do you remember?"

Michiru looked confused. "Remember?"

"Describe the recurring dreams to me."

Michiru smirked. "Maybe it would help if I lay down and you took notes?"

Pluto narrowed her eyes. "This isn't the time for levity, Michiru-san."

Michiru crossed her arms. "Fine. There's a kingdom in flames, people are dying, and I'm hurt. There's someone else, a woman I feel a connection with, like a sister or best friend."

"Or lover?" Pluto asked.

Michiru nodded. "Yes, now that you mention it. She calls me her love, and she has blonde hair, that I remember. But the nightmare always ends before I get a look at her."

"I see… And Serenity and Beryl?"

Michiru brought both hands up to her head and closed her eyes. "I don't know," she answered with a sigh. "It… It made sense somehow at the time I was saying it, when I was under the influence of the daemon's attack, but now I have no idea why I'd mention those two names."

Pluto nodded. "You say you're in a triangle between the wind and your sempai?"

"Hai, I…" she stopped when she fully realized what she'd just admitted to. "And before you ask, yes, that would mean I'm attracted to girls. Or is that not in destiny's plan?"

"Actually, it is," Pluto responded with a slight smile.

Michiru gave the Time Senshi a strange look, then looked away again. "You… You're the first person I came out to."

"Then history repeats itself again it would seem. Tell me more about the wind," she said, ignoring the freshman's confused look.

"It's hard to explain without coming out sounding crazy."

"Try me."

"I had a dream where a woman's voice said something about only the wind could stir my waters. Then, she told me to remember her." Looking at Pluto again, she gave her a pleading look. "Pluto-sama, what did you do to me? What's happening?"

Pluto looked at the young girl sitting next to her expressionlessly for a few seconds before getting up from the examination table and walking over to a chart. "A little over twelve thousand years ago," she began as she came back over with the chart and a thermometer, "There was an ancient solar system wide kingdom known as the Silver Millennium. Open your mouth," she said, sticking the thermometer in the girl's mouth and looking at her watch as she continued. "The ruler of this kingdom was Queen Serenity, and she ruled from her palace on the moon. Those who lived in the Kingdom of the Moon watched over man's progress on Earth, and guarded the sacred stone known as the Silver Crystal. On the dark side of the moon, however, there was a much smaller kingdom ruled by a tyrant named Queen Nehelenia. Open," she said, removing the thermometer from Michiru's mouth. "Hmmm, ninety-eight point six. Good," she said as she wrote the result down on her chart.

"Roll your sleeve up," she said as she wrapped an automated blood pressure gauge around Michiru's arm. "No one knew of Queen Nehelenia or the existence of the Dark Moon Kingdom before the birth of Princess Serenity, when she showed up at the grand reception and attempted an insurrection. Queen Serenity defeated Nehelenia, but not before the Queen of the Dark Moon placed a curse upon the kingdom that the Silver Millennium Kingdom would fall and that Princess Serenity would never reach the throne." Pluto released the blood pressure gauge and wrote the results down.

"A few years later," she continued as she placed her fingers on Michiru's wrist and checked her watch to get her pulse, "Princess Serenity fell in love with the Earth's Prince Endymion. That did not sit well with an Earth monarch by the name of Beryl, who was in love with Endymion as well." She released her wrist, wrote new notes down, and continued. "Beryl was enraged with jealousy. She made a pact with a dark force from deep within the sun that called itself Queen Metaria. She then proceeded to corrupt Prince Endymion's four guards, the Shitennou, into betraying their lord and siding with her in a rebellion of the earth people against the Moon Kingdom. It was a double betrayal, however. Princess Serenity's guardian Senshi, Princesses Mercury, Mars, Venus and Jupiter had each fallen in love with one of the Prince's guard. The Shitennou thus betrayed not just their prince, but the love of the four guardian princesses as well."

She motioned for Michiru to walk over to a scale and started to measure her height. "As a result of the war, the Moon Kingdom was destroyed just as Nehelenia had predicted it would be. The Earth Kingdom was likewise decimated back to the stone age, and mankind was forced back to square one. Along with the four Senshi of the inner solar system who guarded the princess, there were four other, far more powerful Senshi; the Senshi of the outer solar system. You were one of them…"

"Me?" Michiru asked with a start.

"Those 'nightmares' are long forgotten memories of a past life that are only now resurfacing." Checking the scale, she nodded. "Right, one hundred and sixty-three centimeters, or roughly five foot four."

"But, but that's crazy."

"Which would you say is crazier, Michiru san? That you're the reincarnated Princess Neptune of the Silver Millennia whose ancestral castle on the moon of Triton even now continues to rotate around the planet Neptune, or that a thirteen year old virgin should be told she's suddenly been chosen to carry the son of God?"

"Leave my parents religion out of this," Michiru grumbled.

"Fair enough, but you are what you are, so you'd best get used to it," she said as she carefully recorded the freshman's weight.

"And what if I don't wish to 'get used to it'?" Michiru asked as she pulled her henshin wand out of her pocket. Like the sea, she was usually able to hide her feelings beneath a seemingly tranquil surface, but Pluto's aloof smugness was slowly stirring her to storm. "What if I gave this thing back to you and said to hell with fate, moon kingdoms, princesses and the lot of it?"

"Oh?" Pluto asked as she arched an emerald eyebrow. "And does that mean you're no longer curious about the blonde or the wind?"

Michiru's face fell. Pluto had an ace up her sleeve, and had waited until now to use it. "We had a deal, Pluto-sama," she said defensively, "You agreed not to try to manipulate me."

Pluto looked at the girl in front of her thoughtfully for a moment before putting her clipboard down. "Fair enough," she said as she sat back down next to Michiru. "The blonde from your memories is Princess Uranus. She is a fellow Outer Senshi, and like you she was charged with guarding the outer reaches of the solar system from hostile invasion and threats both inter and trans-dimensional. She was also the love of your life, just as you were the love of hers."

Michiru was silent as she processed the new information. "I see," she said finally. "And the wind?"

"The wind can only mean one thing."

"Which is?"

"She's been reincarnated as well, that much is certain. Even now destiny is slowly but inexorably working behind the scenes to draw us all back together in this modern era. I've yet to find Uranus though, and she is as yet not fully awakened. However, it would seem that your awakening has woken up some deep subconscious spark of Uranus within her, wherever she is, and that spark is calling out to you."

Michiru crossed her arms again. "And what about my sempai, Miyuki-sama? How does she fit into all this?"

Pluto's eyes held a certain melancholy in them as they looked upon the younger Senshi. "She doesn't."

Michiru looked perturbed. "But, how do you know? What if she's Uranus? Wouldn't that explain these feelings I have for her?"

"She isn't. I've observed her long enough to be sure of that."

"But… Okay, she's not Uranus. Fair enough. Just because Uranus is out there somewhere and she and I were supposedly once in love doesn't necessarily mean…"

"You're forgetting destiny, Michiru-san."

Michiru glared at Pluto. "I never asked for destiny to pick me, nor did I ever ask to be chosen by you or anybody else to save the world either. I'm just a school girl who dreams of being a violinist some day, or am I to toss my own dreams out the window now that you tell me all this?"

"Michiru…"

"No," she said as she tossed her wand to the floor in front of Pluto. "I've heard enough. Today was the last straw. Find someone else to give up their life for you, I **quit**!" She then turned and stormed out of the room.

Pluto sighed as she picked up the henshin wand. "Stubborn and strong willed as ever," she remarked. The girl came from a privileged background, and was clearly used to getting what she wanted. Finding out there were forces beyond her control was obviously something new to her. Pluto held up her own henshin wand, her nurse's outfit disappearing in a bright flash of purple light, to be replaced by her familiar sailor fuku. Her time staff materialized in her hand, and she quickly used it to open the Time Gate.

"Serenity-sama," Pluto muttered as she disappeared into the gate, "Wherever you are, you should've set aside a third cat."

-0-0-0-

"But what I don't understand is why Joan of Arc," Takayo said as she, Miyuki and Chieko sat in the small waiting area of the first aide station. "I mean, doesn't every girl's school do Joan of Arc?"

"It was either that or the story of Saint Maria Goretti." Miyuki answered with a shrug. "And Principal Ichi vetoed that one because of the whole rape issue."

"Figures," Chieko said with a roll of her eyes, "A girl dying during an attempted rape is too much for us young girls, but a girl being burned at the stake is just fine."

Miyuki and Takayo began to laugh, when the door to the waiting area was thrown open and a visibly upset Michiru came into the room. "Michiru-chan?" Takayo asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she answered curtly. "Can we go now, please?"

A short time later, the four girls were making their way past the booths and attractions of the fair towards the exit. Michiru didn't mean to make the others leave early, but she had to get out of the fairgrounds and try to think. She couldn't detect any sort of deception on Pluto's part during the conversation in the exam room, but that didn't make some of Pluto's revelations any easier to believe. Evil queens, moon kingdoms, curses and wars between the earth and the moon were the stuff of fairy tales.

It was the destiny part though that she was having the hardest part dealing with. She may have once been this 'Princess Neptune' with a castle on Triton that Pluto talked of, but she was Michiru Kaioh now. She had her own set of hopes and dreams, and she felt no particular duty to fulfill some sort of obligation left over from a previous life. And as for fate working to somehow draw all the past members of the moon kingdom back together…

"Michiru-chan, look out!"

Miyuki's voice pulled the freshman out of her thoughts just in time to avoid colliding with two older boys. "G… Gomen," she said as she blushed in embarrassment.

"It's alright," the taller of the two, a handsome dark-haired senior, answered. "It was my fault really."

The two groups separated. Once the girls were out of earshot, the dark-haired boy's friend turned to him with a grin. "You know Mamoru, one of these days you're going to end up colliding with someone."

Mamoru put his hand to his forehead and grimaced. "I know Motoki, I know…"

Meanwhile, as Chieko and Takayo talked of how cute the two boys were, Michiru looked over to Miyuki. She wasn't sure what, if anything, was there, but she decided that she was going to find out. And if Pluto or destiny or anyone else didn't like it, that was their problem.

Miyuki was suddenly surprised to feel a hand brushing up against hers. Looking over, she saw Michiru smiling up at her, her eyes sparkling in the fading sunlight as they left the fair grounds. Smiling back, the junior took her hand, the two of them interweaving their fingers as they followed Takayo and Chieko into the parking lot.

-To Be Continued-


	10. Interlude 2

-Neptune: Year One-

Diclaimer: It's all Naoko Takeushi's folks, I don't own any of it.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude II-

December 9, 1991  
Shinjuku Junior High School  
Office of Junko Shibue, School Psychologist  
File #134 of current academic year

Student I.D. #1326  
Student Name: Haruka Tenoh  
Grade: 9  
Age: 14

Purpose of Visit:

Both the school principal and the instructors feel that the student in question has become an overly disruptive presence in the classroom. While her academic grades remain exceptionally high and she continues to excel in gym class and extracurricular sports (most notably track and field), about a month ago her behavior took a peculiar shift. She cut her once long hair down to almost a boy's length, began wearing the school's boy's uniform to her clases and has recently begun to request both administrators and students to refer to her with the masculine suffix "-kun." This acting out could be indicative of both a need for attention (neglect at home?) and possible gender confusion issues. Administrative staff, along with both the principal and vice principal, have thus called for this mandatory meeting between the student and myself.

-0-0-0-

Junko finished typing out the header of the file. She pulled the sheet out of the typewriter and, noting the time, placed it in an open manila file on her dark oak desk. Returning to her desk, she took another sip of coffee when a knock was heard at the door to her office. "Come on in," she said in a pleasant voice. A young boy with sandy blonde hair casually strode in and shut the door behind him. As Junko watched, he proceeded to sit in the chair opposite her desk and looked at her strangely, like he was expecting something. "Um, may I help you?"

"I suppose that would depend on whether or not I need help, ne?" he answered in a somewhat husky voice.

"Young man," Junko said, "If you'd like to make an appointment to see me…"

"I already have an appointment, Shibue-sensei."

Junko bent forward and looked at the young "boy" more closely. "Tenoh Haruka-san?"

"Hai," she answered with a smirk.

Junko stared for another second or two before shaking herself out of it and opening the student's file. "You're here because both your teachers and your principal are worried about you. Do you understand why?"

Haruka's smirk widened ever so slightly. "Suppose you tell me, sensei."

Junko brought her hands together on her desk. "You don't know?"

"I've a pretty good idea, but I'd like to hear it from you."

"Why did you cut your long hair and start to wear boy's uniforms?"

"Why do you wear long hair and dresses?"

Junko raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm a school psychologist and it's expected of me."

"I see," the student said with a twinkle in her eye. "Well, I'm not a school psychologist, nor do I ever plan on being one, no offense to yourself or your profession. I'm just a junior high student, so I'm not under the same expectations as you. So now that we've aired that out, I'm sure we both feel better, ne? I'll be leaving now..."

"Stay," Junko commanded, a bit of sternness slipping into her normally pleasant voice. The cocky young freshman sat back down and crossed her legs as she once more seemed to study the psychologist. Junko would have to be cautious. This student was smarter than what she'd expected, and the psychologist had the distinct impression that haruka was examining her just as much as she was examining Haruka. "We're not done yet."

The student simply shrugged her shoulders. "It was worth a shot."

Junko cleared her throat a bit as she reached into her drawer and took out a notebook. "Tell me a bit about yourself."

"Let's see… My id always wanted to be a boy, but my superego keeps telling it no. Then about a month ago my ego reached a compromise between the two and now I just dress like one." Junko looked up from her notebook and gave the girl an exasperated look. "Did I mention my Electra complex and my penis envy yet? Because let me tell you, if you want to really get to the root of things…"

"Haruka," Junko said as she crumpled up the sheet of paper from her notebook and tossed it into the waste basket by her feet, "Where did you get all that?"

"A library book on psychology. I thought it best not to walk in here unarmed."

"I see… Haruka-chan…"

"Kun."

"**Chan**," Junko repeated, emphasizing the word as she met the student's blue-green eyes. "Haruka-chan, this is no laughing matter. Gender confusion is a serious topic and…" she was cut off by the laughter of the girl in front of her.

"'Gender confusion?'" Haruka asked, "Are you serious?" She stopped laughing and leaned forward. "Sensei, I'm not confused about my gender."

"Oh?"

"I'm a girl. And for the record, I _like _being a girl. I don't want to be a guy, nor have I ever wished to be one in the past."

"But you do participate heavily in predominately male athletic sports such as running and judo, and I'm told you someday wish to race cars…"

"Formula one," Haruka answered. "By the way, did you know 'racecar' is the same spelled forward or backward?"

"Really? No I didn't, I…" Junko stopped herself as she realized with a start that Haruka had managed to take over the counseling session. Ignoring the smug look of the student in front of her, the psychologist reached into her desk and took out two aspirin, drinking them down with what remained in her coffee mug. "Haruka," she said, attempting to shift the focus and come at the problem from a different angle, "Tell me about racing. Running, driving, what does it mean to you?"

"Let's see… When I run fast, _really_ fast, I can imagine giving into my urge to kill my mother and marrying my father…"

"Enough!" Junko shouted in frustration. "And just for the record, you're wasting both our time. I don't follow Freud."

"Ah, a Jungian then?" Haruka asked, "Or are you more influenced by Erick Erickson's work?"

"Good grief, just how much reading did you do for this meeting?" Noting the look of amusement on the student's face, Junko frowned. "Look, let's cut the crap," she said as she sat back and crossed her arms. "Let's just set all our cards out on the table. Haruka, your wearing boys uniforms and cutting your hair in a boy's style could be seen as evidence of latent homosexual tendencies."

"I resent that."

"You resent the implication of homosexuality."

"I resent the implication that it's latent."

Junko's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting for the young girl before her to simply come out and state it like that, or be that sure of her sexuality at her age. "I see."

"Well, you did suggest we lay all our cards out on the table."

"So you feel yourself to be a lesbian?"

"I suppose you could say that, hai."

"And are you currently sexually active?"

"Why do you ask?" Haruka asked, flashing the psychologist a wink and a grin.

Junko blushed slightly as she looked down at her notebook and scribbled down notes. "That kind of behavior is highly inappropriate, Haruka-chan. Please don't do that again."

"Fair enough," Haruka answered as she sat back. "Would it help if we did some word association?"

The psychologist narrowed her eyes at the student in front of her and sighed. "Very well, we'll play your game. Although at this point I don't see how constructive it'll actually be. Day."

"Night."

"Black."

"Belt."

"Annoyance."

"dresses."

"Love."

"Aquamarine."

The psychologist tilted her head a bit at that. The normal response would've been either an antonym such as 'hate' or an object of love such as 'dog' or 'sweetheart.' "I see… Tree."

"House."

"Mother."

"Father."

"Earth."

"Prince."

Another unexpected answer. "Moon."

"Tragedy."

"Tragedy?" Junko asked. "Now why of all the things you could've associated the moon with did you pick the word 'tragedy'?"

Haruka shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I realize that most people would probably say something like 'white' or 'romance,' but for some reason the moon's always made me feel sad."

"Interesting…"

"Gym class."

"No, that wasn't part of the word association. I was commenting that it was interesting you associated the moon with feelings of melancholy. Hate."

"Lipstick."

"Affection."

"Ocean."

"Love."

"Loss."

Junko brought her hand up to her chin as she contemplated the answers she was getting. She wasn't entirely sure if the girl was still playing some sort of game with her or not, nor was she necessarily sure what any of it meant if she wasn't. She had an intuitive feeling however that she'd stumbled onto something though. The thought of continuing their mental jousting match however was a daunting prospect.

The school bell rang.

"Shibue-sensei," Haruka said, "Not that I'm not having fun with all this, but if you're going to keep me here into next period I'm going to need a permission slip from you when I leave."

Junko took a deep breath. "No, you're free to go. I am, however, going to recommend at least one follow-up session."

Haruka smiled self-assuredly at the school psychiatrist. "A bit of a masochist, are we?"

"Just be here next Monday after lunch period, okay?" she said as she wrote a quick permission slip and handed it to the freshman.

Haruka shrugged. "Fair enough, next Monday after lunch." As the student got up and left the room, Junko allowed a sigh of relief.

"Mother was right," she murmured as she silently thanked the powers that be that she didn't have any further appointments for that day, "I should've gone with my first love and become a veterinarian."

-End Second Interlude-

End Notes: Thanks go to Shanejayell for the idea of making the school psychiatrist female instead of male.


	11. Chapter 9

-Neptune: Year One-

Diclaimer: It's all Naoko Takeushi's folks, I don't own any of it.

-0-0-0-

-IX-

The lunar rover sat on the eastern edge of the Mare Serentatis, or Sea of Tranquility. Last driven by astronaut Eugene A Cernan during the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972, both the vehicle and the astronaut's footprints remained exactly as they were when the astronauts left on December nineteenth. Without wind or rain, there was nothing there to erode away the evidence. Along with the scorch marks of the landing site and the American flag, they all bore silent testimony to just how far the people of earth had come.

There was no atmosphere out here, and no noise to record the sound of the new footsteps being left upon the moon's surface. The only evidence of her at all was the imprint her high heeled boots left in the sedimentary moon dust. She stepped across the previous footsteps as she headed into the Mare Serentatis. The fine powdery moon dust her feet picked up quickly fell back down to the surface in the vacuum of up, she could see the crescent earth rising just over the horizon. She noted that it was waxing before turning away and continuing on her journey.

From earth, the Mare Serentatis makes one of the eyes for the "man in the moon." She can remember when things were different. Descending a hill and going farther than the astronauts dared to, she could remember when the man in the moon was a woman. Coming at last upon the ruined remains of the kingdom that once existed here, she placed a gloved hand on the remains of a column that once stood in the royal antechamber.

This was once the land of the gods, a civilization that had attained the pinnacle of glory.

It was Serenity's Kingdom of the Silver Millennium.

She closed her eyes, and remembered...

-0-0-0-

_The four of them exited the Time Gate quickly. Neptune was going fast, and Uranus had one of the shorter princess' arms draped over her shoulder while Pluto had the other arm wrapped around hers. The fourth Senshi, Saturn, followed silently. The Senshi of Death had in fact yet to say a word since her fellow Outers had used their talismans to awaken her. As Pluto and Uranus dragged Neptune along, her head suddenly fell forward. Aquamarine hair acted as a curtain, hiding her face from her fellow Senshi._

_"Neptune!" Uranus cried out._

_Neptune weakly looked up, her eyes fluttering as she tried to focus on her love. The large gash in Uranus' side bore testimony of the Wind Senshi's own injuries. Uranus cupped Neptune's cheek._

_"It's not fair to indulge in your own world like that, Neptune. Don't leave me alone..." her voice died off as she and her fellow Senshi of the Outer Solar System saw something sparkling in the air. It was Queen Serenity's Silver Crystal. The crystal suddenly shone brightly, turning the sky a bright pinkish red._

_"Come," Pluto ordered as what appeared to be bubbles containing the souls of the fallen began to rise into the air, "We haven't much time." Making their way through the ruins, they at last heard a familiar voice._

_"...And this crescent moon wand can only be used by a descendant of this kingdom."_

_The four Senshi came upon their fallen Queen giving her final instructions to her aids Luna and Artemis._

_"If Metalia should return to life again in the future, give this to Princess Serenity and protect the peaceful world."_

_"Yes, my queen," Luna said, tears freely rolling down the cat's cheeks as she focused on her monarch's last will and testament._

_The queen looked up to see the Senshi of the Outer Planets approach. Uranus sat back on her legs and cradled Neptune's head in her lap. The queen looked from the couple to Saturn and Pluto. "Saturn, do you understand what must be done?" The Senshi of Silence nodded her head. "Good..."_

_"Queen Serenity..." Artemis' voice was cut off as, with a wave of Serenity's hand, both he and Luna were encapsulated in small suspended animation pods. The pods rose into the air to follow the soul bubbles._

_Serenity turned back to the Senshi in front of her. "One day, all will be revived again. The cycle of life, death and rebirth thus turned will begin again someday."_

_"All will be revived again?" Neptune asked, her eyes fluttering weakly as she looked from her Queen to Uranus._

_Serenity noted the look and managed a smile. "Yes Neptune, both you and Uranus will one day be reborn as well. For neither of you are whole without the other, and were either of you reincarnated without the other you would be incomplete."_

_Neptune looked up into Uranus' eyes, tears running down her cheeks. Uranus looked from her beloved to the Guardian of the Time Gate. "Pluto... Promise us... Promise..."_

_Pluto looked from Uranus to Neptune and nodded in understanding. "I promise. When the time comes, I will do all in my power to reunite you both."_

_Neptune nodded her head. "Thank you," she whispered._

_Queen Serenity closed her eyes and drew in a labored breath. "Princess Serenity and all of our Sailor Senshi, may your love be fulfilled in the future on earth. In the future on earth... please live happy lives." With that, she died._

_Pluto walked over and brought her hand up to her queens neck, checking for a pulse. Her head hung for a brief second when she found none. Looking back over, she stood up. "It is time. The cycle of life and death must once more turn, and it must begin now. I must leave though, to return to my Time Gate, to watch and guide and plan for the day when all will be renewed." Walking over to Neptune and Uranus, she placed her hand over theirs. "Till we meet again, my friends."_

_"Everyone else is dead."_

_Pluto looked up with a start. Saturn, who had been silent until now, came over._

_"The queen, the princess and everybody else is already gone," she said as she picked up her dreaded Silence Glaive. "Soon, I will fulfill my destiny, and all will be wiped clean as Uranus, Neptune and myself will join them. But you? You must go on, all alone." With a look of sadness and pity in her eyes, she shook her head. "Your fate is the saddest of all."_

_Pluto stared silently at the Senshi of Death, pondering her words. She gave one last parting look to Uranus and Neptune before opening the portal to the Time Gate. She stepped in as Saturn raised the Silence Glaive up over her head. _

_"**Death Reborn Revolution!**"  
_

_The Portal closed behind Pluto just before the Glaive came down and touched the lunar surface. _

-0-0-0-

Pluto opened her eyes. Above her, without an atmosphere to bend light and cause a twinkling effect, the stars shone bright and steady. She had been given the task to watch and be ready for when the time came that the Senshi were to be reborn. She had promised that she would see to it that Uranus and Neptune would one day find one another again. With a heavy feeling she realized she'd failed so far. Michiru Kaioh wanted nothing to do with fate or destiny, or it would seem with a Time Senshi who once upon a time she'd called her friend.

Saturn's words came back to her, "Your fate is the saddest of all."

Her eyes watered up, the tears freezing and falling to her feet as ice crystals in the cold vacuum of space before they ever had a chance to travel down her cheeks. She opened a portal into the time gate and disappeared.

-0-0-0-

The girl was led into the tribunal chamber in chains by her two guards. The members of the ecclesiastical court were already present, and as the guards stepped back and away from the prisoner she found herself all alone before her accusers.

"Joan," one of the prosecutors spoke up, "Do you still refuse to sign this confession?"

"I do," she answered boldly.

"You claim to have heard voices," another accuser said, "And to have seen Saint Michael the Archangel."

"Was Saint Michael clothed or was he naked?" a third voice asked sarcastically, earning the laughter of the others within the tribunal.

Joan turned angrily towards the speaker. "Do you think God could not provide him with clothing?"

"Enough!" the second prosecutor shouted. "You dare to mock us, you herozera..., uh, herisor..."

"Heresiarch," Sister Tabitha said exasperatedly as she came out on the stage. "The word is 'heresiarch.'"

Michiru let out a sigh. This was the last dress rehearsal for the play. Tomorrow was opening night, and they were still having troubles with their lines. Looking over behind the stage curtain, she met Miyuki's gaze and smiled back. The two had been secretly seeing one another now for nearly a month. Miyuki was beautiful, and Michiru enjoyed their time together. She did sometimes wish though that her sempai's eyes didn't glaze over whenever she'd try to talk about art, or yawn so much when Michiru would play her classical music CDs and practice her violin.

Michiru could overlook all that, though, for one important thing; Miyuki Asami was_ normal_. And after all that had happened to the freshman in the last few months (and the still recurring nightmares of the end of the world), she wanted, no, needed that more than anything.

"Hey, Michiru-chan."

Michiru turned to see her roommate Takayo coming over in her guard uniform with someone she didn't recognize. "Michiru-chan, I want you to meet one of my oldest and dearest friends from my old school. This is Elsa Gray, the fastest runner on two feet, and she's just transferred to our school. Isn't that neat?"

"Nice to meet you," Elsa said as she politely bowed.

"Likewise, I'm sure," Michiru answered as she bowed back.

"Hey, I have an idea," Takayo said, "My sempai Chieko has the flu at the moment, but maybe Elsa, me, you and Miyuki can go out after rehearsals today and do something?"

"That sounds nice," Michiru agreed. "We can..."

"Okay, girls," Sister Tabitha called out. "Places, please. We'll start from where we left off."

"We'll talk more after rehearsals," Michiru said before taking her place before the tribunal once again.

-0-0-0-

The snow was cascading down as Takayo, Elsa, Michiru and Miyuki left the theater hall the school had rented and strolled down to a small cafe Miyuki said she knew. They found the small restaurant downtown next to an auto repair shop. Miyuki said that she was friends with someone who worked there, and told the other girls to wait outside while she checked to see if she was in. While Miyuki went in and Elsa and Takayo reminisced about the good old days, Michiru leaned up against the garage entrance and crossed her arms as she watched her breath rise out of her mouth in white puffs and ascend into the winter sky.

"Hey Haruka-kun, where'd you get this convertible?"

"My aunt passed away recently and left it to me. Pretty cool, huh?"

Michiru froze as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end.

"Well, I don't know... It's going to need a thorough going over. We'll need to do a tuneup, check the antifreeze and the electrical system."

"Your forgetting the oil leak, Hironari-kun."

Michiru's pulse sped up as she listened. That voice. It couldn't be...

"Look, I'm not saying it's in first-class condition. But it **is** salvageable. And I'm willing to bet between us that we can bring her back to pristine. So let's get her on the lift."

"Is that what you told her last night?"

"Baka."

It was her, the voice from her dreams.

She's turned her back on destiny, Pluto and saving the world. She'd even given her henshin wand back. She wanted her own life, her own dreams. And now, of all times, she found the voice from her dreams.

"But Ruka-kun, you're not even old enough to drive yet."

"You're a downer, you know that?"

She was torn. She had her sempai Miyuki and her friends at school. Her music and artwork were only just beginning to get noticed outside her school. She didn't want or need to go back.

"I'm not saying it doesn't have the potential to be a dream car but..."

"Don't even mention dreams to me. You wouldn't believe the nightmare I had last night."

If she turned around to see her, she knew what would happen. She'd turned her back on all of it. If she turned around and saw who it was lurking in the shadows of her dreams, she'd be pulled back and would never be able to turn away again.

"Nightmare, Ruka-kun?"

"Hai, a real weird one all about the end of the world."

She knew what would happen.

She turned anyways.

Time seemed to freeze as she saw her. That face, that indescribable face. Her features were boyish, and her haircut only added to the effect, but to the trained eyes of an artist such as Michiru the feminine jawline clearly gave her away. It was her eyes though that were the blonde's most striking feature. They were teal green, and under the fluorescent lighting of the garage they seemed to sparkle.

Somewhere, Elsa and Takayo were talking. In front of her, the sandy blonde was leaning up against the hood of an old white convertible as she continued her conversation with her friend. Michiru heard none of it. As she continued to stare, she was only aware of the music, a music that only she could hear as she looked upon the androgynous girl before her. A warm breeze seemed to come from the garage, carrying the scent of roses...

"Michiru-chan."

Michiru looked over with a start, the scent of roses and the music disappearing almost instantly as she turned away. Miyuki was smiling at her and the other two girls. "Good news. My friend is in, so we should be able to get a deal on today's meal."

Michiru stared at her for a few seconds before forcing a smile. "That's wonderful Miyuki-chan."

"Chan?" Takayo giggled, "My, we are informal aren't we?"

"Come on," Miyuki said, choosing to ignore the comment, "My treat."

The four girls went into the restaurant. Michiru brought up the rear. She looked wistfully back over to the garage entrance as she realized that nothing would ever be the same.

-0-0-0-

"Ugh! Delays, delays," a frantic Sister Tabitha grumbled. "We're still missing several set pieces, the cast seems to have gone awol, and now this! Hey up there," she called to the balcony, "Have you got that spotlight fixed yet?"

"Don't worry," Zultan called down, "It's fixed all right."

-To Be Continued-


	12. Chapter 10

-Neptune: Year One-

Diclaimer: It's all Naoko Takeushi's folks, I don't own any of it.

-0-0-0-

-X-

The two girls slipped quietly into the darkened dorm room hand in hand. They would be alone for a bit, and they could take their time. As their lips came together, the taller girl cradled the shorter girl's cheeks in her hands. Soon, the older girl had the younger pushed up against the wall. Her hands began to wander, her excitement growing as she suckled on an earlobe and the shorter girl began to moan. She slowly began to hike up the other girl's skirt, when unexpectedly a hand stopped her.

"Michiru?" she asked in confusion as her girlfriend pulled back from her.

Michiru looked down at her feet as she avoided eye contact with her sempai. "I'm sorry, I... I'm not feeling good, I need to be alone for a bit."

Miyuki stepped back. "Not feeling good? Wha... You were feeling fine earlier today during the rehearsals. What's really wrong?"

Michiru continued to avoid eye contact as she bit her lip. Finally, Miyuki let out a sigh. "Very well, I'll get going. Just promise me you'll tell me later what was wrong, okay?" She turned and left, leaving Michiru still shaking a bit as she leaned against the wall.

The young artist closed her eyes and drew in a sharp breath. She pushed her long bangs away from her eyes with the edge of her hand. She had to look, had to see the face. And now that she had, she was lost. All she could see was that face, all she could hear was that voice. It called out to her soul, and it whispered of deeds and promises long forgotten. Her heart was being torn in two, between a choice of a comfortable future as a musician and an uncertain and dangerous fate of going back to being Sailor Neptune and trying to awaken Uranus.

She was drawn from her thoughts by a knock at the door, followed by Takayo and Elsa coming in. "Hey Michiru-chan," her roommate said with a smile, "The two of us were going to stay up for a bit, play cards and talk. You know, have a real slumber party. You want in?"

"Thank you, but no," Michiru answered as she pushed herself from the wall and started to head for the door, "I don't do slumber parties."

"Suit yourself," Takayo answered with a shrug. "So Elsa, you ran in this Fall's inter-school track event back in September, how badly did you beat everyone?"

"I didn't" Elsa answered as Michiru reached the door, "I came in second."

"Second?" Takayo asked as the doorknob was turned, "I thought nobody could beat you."

"Try telling that to Tenoh Haruka."

Michiru stopped.

"Tenoh Haruka? Is she fast?"

"You could say that," Elsa answered with a chuckle, "She's the first person I've gone against who I couldn't beat."

"On the other hand," Michiru said as she shut the door and came back into the room, "I have heard that slumber parties are supposed to be fun, ne? And just because I've never been to one before doesn't mean I can't start now, does it?"

Elsa and Takayo looked at each other, then at Michiru. "Well," Takayo said, "If you're sure you'd like to..."

"Wonderful," Michiru interrupted with a smile. "So, Elsa-chan, tell me more about this Haruka girl you raced against."

-0-0-0-

The rented theater was empty as she stole back into the balcony. Lighting up a cigarette and wearing a backpack, Zultan picked the large box up again and dragged it to the giant spotlight. She squatted down between the spotlight and the box, pulling out a flask of whiskey as she did so. She flicked the ashes onto the red carpeted floor as she took a swig before removing her backpack.

The professor was getting paranoid, that's all she could think of as she looked over to the heavy box. There was no way in hell that Sailor Neptune could've survived the daemon at the fair. Indeed, there'd been no sightings whatsoever of the girl since she'd left her in the tunnel of love with the hallucinogenic youma. The daemon in the box was superfluous; who did he think she was going to need protection from now? A group of parents, their bratty parents, or the nuns who were supposed to be watching them?

She put the cigarette back in her lips and held it there with her teeth as she used both hands to hook up the device from her backpack to the large spotlight, grumbling in annoyance as she had to use a three-pronged adapter at one point to finish the job. Finally satisfied, she snuck out as noiselessly as she'd snuck in, a malicious smile gracing her lips.

-0-0-0-

_She was showing off her new convertible to Hironari, bragging about how it was left to her by her aunt and discussing what kind of body work would be necessary to fix the car up, when a strange scent reached her nostrils. She closed her eyes briefly as she inhaled, musing that it smelled of the sea and of romance. Opening her eyes, she saw a shadowy figure standing outside the garage staring at her in the snow. She was used to having cute and not so cute girls following her from afar, and she'd gotten into the habit of flirting at her admirers with a wink, a smirk, or a look through half-closed eyelids._

_She did none of those things now though. Instead, she simply looked back, trying to see through the shadows and steal a glimpse of the girl who smelled of the ocean._

_The oceans of being..._

_Haruka's eyes widened as there was a bright sea green flash of light, carrying with it warmth and a sense of familiarity. As the light faded, the girl was still there in the shadows, but now the sky was a crimson red. The figure turned and began to walk away just as a large blackness began to suck buildings and people into itself. Instead of running away from the monstrous thing though, the petite figure was walking towards it._

_A sudden sense of protectiveness took possession of Haruka. She pushed herself off from the car hood she'd been leaning up against and began to run out of the garage towards the girl, heedless of her own danger. She seemed to be running in slow motion though, unable to reach her as the black curtain of death came closer and closer._

-0-0-0-

Haruka woke up with a start, panting as sweat rolled down her forehead. She sat up in bed and brought her knees up to her chest, trying to calm down. Two nights now she'd had a nightmare about the end of the world, and tonight she'd dreamed of the girl she'd only caught a glimpse of from the garage door. She didn't even get a good look at her, how could she have made such an impression?

"Heh," she chuckled nervously to herself, "At least I'll have something good to share with the school psychologist next time."

-0-0-0-

The next day, the theater was full of parents and small children. Michiru looked out from behind the curtain, feeling her nerves acting up. She was no actor. How in the world did she get talked into this?

More importantly, was _she_ in the crowd?

"Michiru-san."

"Hai?" Michiru turned around to see her mother's long-time personal assistant Kotono Morino. "Let me guess, you're here to explain to me why my mother won't be here tonight, right?"

"Well, I... That is..."

"It's alright, really," Michiru said with a sad smile. "If I remember correctly, this is her anniversary isn't it? How are she and her third husband doing?"

"Very well, but she wanted you to know that she'd be here if she could."

"I'm sure," Michiru responded with a forced civility. "Tell her I understand. Will you be staying for the show?"

"Hai," Kotono answered as she held up a small camcorder, "Your mom made me promise to tape everything for her."

Michiru looked at the camcorder and smiled. "That's my mom," she murmured. Looking back to the personal assistant, she nodded. "Where will you be sitting?" she asked as she put on her brown wig to play the title character.

"Front and center," Kotono answered, "Break a leg."

"Arigato," she said as the older woman left and she turned back to look out from behind the curtain again. Her mind drifted back to last night's slumber party, and to what Elsa Gray shared with her about Haruka. The girl had always been a natural athlete, came from a well to do background, and tended to keep to herself. She'd cut her hair short and started dressing like a boy a little over a month ago, and the rumor was that she was into girls (Michiru could still remember Takayo laughing out loud and squealing "Ewww!" when she'd heard that little tidbit).

What struck Michiru most though was Elsa's comment about Haruka as a runner. When Takayo asked her why she hadn't beaten her in a race yet, Elsa just shook her head. "Trying to outrace her is like trying to catch the wind."

"Who are you looking for Michiru-chan?"

Michiru turned to see Miyuki standing behind her holding onto several chains. "Oh, I didn't hear you."

"I'm sure," Miyuki murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing. Here, I have to help you get into these chains. By the way, just what did happen yesterday?"

"Yesterday?" Michiru asked, looking around as her fellow actors started to get in place.

"Yes, yesterday," Miyuki said as she locked Michiru's hands and feet into shackles and began wrapping chains around her. "You were fine right up until we went with your roommate and her friend to dinner, then..."

"Miyuki, this is hardly the time or place to... Oof," she grunted as the junior pulled one of the chains a little too snugly.

"Sorry," Miyuki said. "But it's just that you've never come down with headaches before yesterday..."

"I didn't say I had a headache, I..." she grimaced as the chains were again tightened, "I said I wasn't feeling well. Please don't make a scene."

"Make a scene?" Miyuki asked indignantly as she padlocked all the chains in place. "Fine Michiru. Tell you what, it's obvious you want some sort of space, so I'm leaving. I've already seen enough play rehearsals to be able to quote it with my eyes closed anyways."

"Miyuki..."

"But this isn't over," she said loud enough to get the attention of some of the others behind the curtain. "After the play, we will discuss this further Michiru," she said before leaving through the exit and storming out of the theater.

Michiru frowned. She never meant to hurt Miyuki's feelings or upset her. Looking down, she realized that her sempai had her shackled so tightly that she could just manage to shuffle her feet, but her hands were almost completely immobile. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to forget her relationship problems and try to focus on remembering her lines. She could suddenly feel anxiety. Strange, she'd never suffered stage fright playing her violin.

Her anxiety began to turn into fear, and she could feel her pulse begin to pick up. She opened her eyes and saw that, while some of the others were also looking a bit nervous, no one else was having an anxiety attack. Her hands began to shake as Takayo and the other girl playing guards came forward, each taking a chain in hand as the orchestra began to play. As the curtain began to open, she could hear the waves crashing.

-0-0-0-

Zultan heard the overture begin. It was time. Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out the large black star decail and stuck it to the front of the spotlight. As the curtain began to open, she took aim...

-0-0-0-

"It's magic time!" Takayo said enthusiastically as she and the other girl began to lead Michiru out.

"No, wait!" Michiru screamed. "Close the curtain, cancel the show!"

"What?" the other guard asked in surprise.

"Michiru," Takayo said as some of the other actresses already on stage gave nervous looks their way, "Get a hold of yourself."

"No, Takayo!" Michiru pleaded frantically, her eyes wide with fear as the tsunami picked up power inside her head. She was pulled by the two guards onto the stage, the crowd thinking her show of fear part of the play. "You have to listen!"

That's when the spotlight came on.

Barely able to move, Michiru dived down, landing hard on her chest and knocking the wind out of herself. Takayo and the other guard were both hit, collapsing down to the stage floor as their heart crystals were extracted. Three of the actresses in the council were next, each screaming out in pain as the spotlight shone on them.

Panic spread throughout the audience as parents and students rushed for the exits, only to find them locked. As those closest to the exit doors began to be crushed against them, Zultan shone the light on them. Screams of fear and pain filled the auditorium as men, women and children collapsed, their heart crystals floating in the air just above them.

Michiru meanwhile struggled to wiggle out from beneath Takayo who'd landed on her legs. She freed herself, but managed in the process to attract Zultan's attention. The violinist began desperately rolling on her side towards the back stage area behind the heavy stage curtain, the spotlight just missing her as she reached safety. Frowning, Zultan turned her attention back to the crowd, continuing to hit people with her spotlight until the screams and frightened shouts at last died away.

"Shit," the witch grumbled as she looked out at the glowing sea of heart crystals, "I would've thought for sure there'd be a talisman somewhere in a group this size. Hey, little girl," she called down from the balcony as she lit another cigarette, "Hey 'Joan,' come on out." Michiru lay on her side behind the stage struggling futilely to escape her chains as Zultan frowned. "Come on, let's not waste both our time."

When nothing happened, the witch finally shrugged. "Fine, you brought it on yourself." She opened the metal box. Instantly, dozens upon dozens of black snakes escaped and slithered out off the balcony and down to the auditorium floor. There, they began to slither together to morph into the shape of one large black viper, its glowing yellow-green eyes focused on the stage as it began to slither down the aisle and over fallen audience members towards its intended target.

-To Be Continued-


	13. Chapter 11

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

Author's note: I just wanted to once again take the opportunity to thank everyone for their kind reviews and encouragement throughout this. And I want to specially thank all of you who have offered constructive criticism along the way in order to help me grow as a writer. Arigato.

-0-0-0-

-XI-

Miyuki sat alone on the park bench, ignoring the cold and the snow all around her as she fumed. When she and Michiru had first met, the freshman couldn't stop blushing under her gaze. Now though, it was like there was an invisible distance that had somehow built up between then. It both hurt and frustrated the junior, and she had no idea what she might've done to cause it.

"Is this seat taken?"

Miyuki looked up to see Elsa Gray standing over her, wearing a pretty blue jacket. She shrugged her shoulders and moved down a bit. "So what brings you out here?"

"Well," Elsa began, "I was supposed to catch tonight's play, but of course I missed the first bus. So I had to hire a taxi, and by the time the taxi driver got the directions right it was too late."

"Too late? You still could get in to watch the rest of the play."

Elsa shook her head. "No, I tried. The theater doors are all locked."

"Locked?" Miyuki asked a little surprised, "Why would they lock all the doors?"

"I don't know, but I do know that it's freezing out here. Look, there's a coffee shop open just around the corner from here. Why don't we both go there to wait until the show is over. My treat."

Miyuki shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, why not." Getting up, she looked back at the theater, frowning at the memory of how she'd left things between her and Michiru. "Elsa, do you suppose everything's going okay with the play tonight?"

Elsa smiled, "Trust me, I'm sure everything's going fine. Now come on, let's get out of this winter wonderland and into a warm building."

Miyuki nodded, following Elsa as she led the way.

-0-0-0-

Michiru began to whimper. The chains and shackles were locked onto her, and they weren't giving no matter how hard she struggled. She could hear movement coming towards her, and looking up she could see the head of the giant snake youma as it set its hideous yellow-green eyes on her. It started to come towards her even as she tried to edge away, fear gripping the girl's heart as she saw the daemon open it's cavernous mouth to show off its fangs. She closed her eyes as fear gripped her, and let out a scream.

The daemon suddenly stopped as the glowing green astrological symbol for Neptune appeared on the young teen's forehead, and a wand seemed to emerge from out of nowhere and floated between it and the girl. Michiru opened her eyes and, seeing her henshin wand floating before her, was almost as confused as the daemon. "W... What..."

"Dead Scream."

The words were whispered, and were almost inaudible to Michiru's ears, but the next thing she knew a glowing purple orb hurdled just above her head and hit the daemon head on. Instead of disintegrating, however, it split the thing apart into the various smaller snakes that made it up. The slithering creatures seemed to fly out everywhere from the blast, one of them even flying up to the balcony and landing on Zultan.

"Aaaa!" the witch screamed as she tried to get it off of her. "Get it off me! Get it off!" As she flailed around in a panic, she knocked the spotlight over. The overheated spotlight infused with Death Buster technology landed with a crash, setting the carpet on fire.

Behind the stage, Michiru turned to look over her shoulder to see Sailor Pluto coming towards her. The Guardian of the Time Gate silently touched her staff to the girl's chains. Almost immediately all the locks opened, freeing her. "Pluto-sama, how..."

"Let's just say I'm good at locking and unlocking," Pluto answered.

Michiru stood up, kicking her legs loose of the chains. Looking back over, she could see her wand still floating above the ground. "My henshin wand."

"You summoned it," Pluto explained quickly. "It responded to your fear and appeared. Now," she began as she pointed her staff at the back stage door, causing it to open on its own, "Run."

Michiru was surprised. "What?"

"I'll no longer try to force you to accept your fate against your will. I didn't destroy the daemon, and before too long it'll reform. I'll take care of it. Get out, call for help."

"Call for help? But what about you, and what about the wand? I..." she stopped as she took a few sniffs, "Is that smoke?" Even as the words left Michiru's mouth, the theater's sprinkler system kicked in, a blaringly loud fire alarm ringing throughout the auditorium.

"It's none of your concern anymore," Pluto responded as the cold water began to cascade down, causing her dark emerald hair to cling to her tanned skin and Sailor fuku. She turned around, her face grave as she began to walk out onto the stage with her staff held in a defensive position.

Meanwhile, Zultan had left the balcony and was making her way to the lobby. She was soaking wet from the sprinkler and angry as hell. She didn't see who attacked the daemon, but then she didn't need to. The only person she knew with that kind of power was Sailor Neptune. Obviously the aquamarine little shit had somehow survived the daemon at the fair. As she ran into the ladies' room, she vowed to herself that it wasn't over between them. That brat had made it personal, and if it was a war she wanted it was a war she'd get.

As the Death Busters car crashed through the ladies' room wall out into the parking lot, Sailor Pluto watched silently as the snakes began to join together once more. She was surprised by the fact that the daemon reduced itself to individual snakes rather than simply dissolve to dust, and she didn't know what it would take to finally destroy the thing. As the sprinklers continued to rain down and the alarms continued to blare, she prepared to attack once more.

Unfortunately, she didn't notice that the tail of the giant serpent was forming behind her. It wrapped around her ankles and, with a tug, caused the Senshi to fall to her side. Her Time Staff was knocked out of her hands and rolled away as she was yanked up, dangling upside down from her legs as the snake opened its mouth and dislocated its jaw, intent on swallowing Pluto whole.

"Deep Submerge!"

A sea-green ball of energy enveloped the daemon, once more reducing it to smaller serpents. Sailor Pluto quickly reached for her Time Staff.

"Dead Scream."

The individual snakes disappeared, to be replaced by a book on snakes of the world. A pod then came out of the book and crumbled to dust. Pluto turned to see Sailor Neptune standing under one of the sprinklers, the young Senshi watching the heart crystals descend back down to the students and audience members they'd originally come from. "Michiru?"

"I've found her," she said, her voice raised in order to be heard above the fire alarm. "I've found Uranus."

Pluto's eyes widened. "Uranus..."

"I'm not going to fight you anymore," Neptune continued as she came over, "Nor am I going to try to escape destiny anymore. I can't, not after seeing her."

Pluto was unsure what to say. "I... I understand."

Both Senshi became aware of sirens from outside the building as the fire department responded to the fire alarms. "Pluto," Neptune said as Takayo began to moan on the ground near her, "In my previous life, back when we were in that moon kingdom you talked of, we were friends right?"

Pluto nodded her head. "Hai."

"Good. Then as a friend, do you have any advice on how to end a relationship?"

Pluto stared silently at Neptune for a few seconds before a smile slowly formed on the Time Senshi's face.

-0-0-0-

The next day, Miyuki left after her final classes were over and walked down the freshly shoveled path to the greenhouse. After she'd left Michiru at the theater last night, some sort of fire broke out. Apparently smoke inhilation caused those in attendance to suffer wild hallucinations. When she'd found Michiru to check on her, the freshman seemed more distant than ever as she said they should talk things over at the greenhouse. A cold wind whipped past her as she opened the door and saw the freshman waiting expectantly for her.

Michiru sat on a chair next to a flower pot. As Miyuki managed a smile, Michiru smiled demurely back before looking away uncharacteristically. "Michiru-chan, I'm here. What's this all about?"

Michiru motioned to a chair next to her. "Sit, please."

"That bad?" Miyuki quipped as she sat down.

Michiru took a deep breath and looked at her sempai. "Miyuki, you're a wonderful person. You're sweet and caring, and..."

"You're dumping me, right?"

The younger girl was taken aback. "Miyuki..."

"Spare me the bull shit Michiru," Miyuki said as she stood up. "I've noticed you no longer being there for me as much, saw how you've lost that spark in your eyes you used to have when we were together. What was it, Michiru? Were you just experimenting with me, to see if you liked girls or not?" she asked, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Or was it fear of what others would say if they learned? Or maybe the whole Catholic guilt thing got to you and you're afraid of Hell. Is that it?"

Michiru slowly shook her head, her own eyes starting to water up. "No," she managed to get out. She'd never meant to hurt her sempai so much. God, why did this have to be so hard?

"Then why?" Miyuki pleaded as her tears began to work their way down her cheeks, "Just tell me why."

Michiru couldn't bare her sempai's gaze. "There's... someone else," she muttered. A second later, an open hand slapped her across her cheek, causing the artist to turn her head and wince in pain. Miyuki said nothing after slapping her, her lower lip quivered as she wept. Wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, she left the greenhouse.

As the door shut behind Miyuki, Michiru buried her face in her hands and wept.

The next day, Miyuki went into Principal Ichi's office. Shortly thereafter, Miyuki was removed as Michiru's onee-sama.

-0-0-0-

"Read 'em and weep Hironari-kun. I've got my learner's permit."

"Whoa. I don't know how you managed it at your age Haruka-kun, but congratulations."

"What are you talking about? My birthday's January twenty-seventh, the most they did was wave a few weeks." Haruka was grinning from ear to ear as she ran her fingers across the hood of her white convertible. "Come on, it's Saturday. Let's go for a ride."

"Heh, thanks but no thanks," Hironari said as he held up his hands. "If you drive anything like you run, the safest place for me to be is here in the garage."

Haruka laughed good naturedly. "Good grief Hironary-kun, if you're this bad about me behind the wheel of a car I can only imagine what you're reaction will be when I get my first motorcycle."

"Motorcycle?" Hironari asked incredulously.

Still laughing, Haruka sat behind the wheel and turned on the ignition. Pulling out of the garage, she was oblivious to the girl bundled up in the Dark green winter jacket, whose hood was up and whose light blue scarf covered everything but her deep blue eyes. She watched Haruka drive past her as she pushed an aquamarine lock of hair out of the way. She'd been watching Haruka from a distance for close to three weeks now, sometimes as herself and sometimes bounding from rooftop to rooftop as Sailor Neptune. She'd accepted her fate, and with every glimpse of the blonde she accepted it anew. As she watched Haruka drive around the corner, her heart ached to be in the car with her.

Michiru turned around and headed for the bus depot. She didn't know when, but sooner or later the opportunity would present itself for them to meet. Until then, she'd watch and wait.

-To Be Continued-


	14. Interlude 3

Neptune: Year One

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of the characters in the Sailor Moon franchise. They are all the property of Naoko Takeushi.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude III-

It was a cold morning in early February, the sky was cloudy and a northeasterly breeze swept through Tokyo, carrying with it the ocean chill. Haruka yawned as she put on her heavy sweat shirt over a white tee-shirt and slipped on her sweatpants over her thermal leggings. She put on a yellow knit hat, tied on her running sneakers, and left out the front door of her student dorm. After a series of warm-up stretches, she set out.

The sky was just beginning to turn a pinkish hue, the sun not yet visible over the trees and buildings surrounding the high school campus as she jogged around the track behind the school. She'd had another dream again, the one about the end of the world. This time though, she saw the girl clearly. She wore a sort of sailor inspired costume, had long wavy aquamarine hair, wore a tiara, and had piercing deep blue eyes. She whispered of fate, past lives and other things that made sense at the time but now that she was awake were either half-forgotten or simply left her baffled.

Haruka left the track and began to run cross country through the manicured grass lawn of the school and out towards the public park that lay adjacent. She realized that she was running away again, but she wasn't quite sure yet from what. She'd been accepted into Mugan, and would begin there next year. Her parents had formally cut her off after she'd come out to them, but her late aunt's inheritance would be enough to at least see her through to high school graduation. But her dreams...

Her dreams frightened her. They hinted at a destiny, at something monumental that was coming and that she was to be a part of. Her and the girl from her dreams. Haruka already had a dream though. She wanted to be a formula one racer. It was all she'd ever dreamed of since she was a young girl sitting up on the big couch in the living room next to her father watching motor sports up on TV. She wasn't about to give her hopes and dreams up, not for some silly recurring dream that probably meant nothing.

But then, if it meant nothing, why was she so pensive about the whole thing?

She jogged through the park and out into a residential district, her breath rising up in white whiffs in the cool of the February morning. Already the snow was melting in places, and as she ran she thought of the season's first track meets at the end of next month. As she began to run down the sidewalk past the houses that lined the street, she noted something unusual. Up until now, the only sounds she'd been aware of were of her feet striking the ground and her steady breathing. But now, a third sound had joined in.

The sound of wind rustling.

She looked around. The trees were motionless, and the flag draped up in front of one of the local grammar schools hung limply from the pole. Yet still, as she continued on past the two story house across the street, she couldn't shake the sound of the wind billowing.

-0-0-0-

The small girl opened her eyes slowly. The sun was just beginning to rise up over the horizon. She loved to watch the sunrise, the way the colors danced and splashed across the park and houses. She sat up too quickly however, and went into a coughing fit. The frail girl reached over to her nightstand for her inhaler, taking two quick puffs before she was able to catch her breath.

She didn't used to be this way. She used to be a spunky and sprightly little girl, always full of laughter and mischief. Her earliest memories were of her mother cooking apple pies in the Fall, the intoxicating scent sending the girl into ecstasy in anticipation. She could remember sneaking a taste, and how her mother chided her for it, only to then console her as the overly sensitive girl began to cry.

She had faint memories of her father from that early time. Sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee and reading his paper, or kissing her goodnight along with her mother. Mostly though she could remember he was always leaving, whether it was to go to his laboratory in the basement or to his job as a professor at the college he worked at.

She was happy then. She was healthy and loved then too.

Then, when she was five, the incident happened. An explosion in her father's lab took away her health and her mother's life, as well as all the happy times she'd once known.

Slowly, cautiously, she got out of her bed, the mattress and much of the rest of her room covered with stuffed toy animals. She put on her dark purple bathrobe, slipped on a pair of slippers, and brought her inhaler with her just in case. She wanted to see the sunrise up close, to remember that not everything was dark and somber. She walked to the window and looked out, resting the palm of her hand on the glass.

The corners of her lips slowly curved upward as she saw the way the sun cast gold and magenta highlights on the large tree just outside her window. As she looked out further, she could see a jogger running along the sidewalk. From the long distance she had no way of knowing if it was a boy or girl, but whoever it was, they were obviously quite fit to be able to keep up with the pace they were running at. The girl was fixated on the jogger, imagining what it must be like to be so healthy and energetic. She didn't hear the door to her bedroom open or the soft footsteps coming up behind her as she continued to look out. It wasn't until she saw the reflection in the window that she was alerted to the other's presence.

"You'd like to be out there too, wouldn't you?" Kaolinite asked with a sneer, "To run and enjoy the outdoors yourself."

The girl looked away from the window, her violet eyes focusing up at the redheaded woman leering down at her.

"You can't though, can you? You're a sickly and frail asthmatic, Hotaru-chan, and you'll never be anything more than that. Dreams are for those with the ability to make their wishes true, not for someone like you. So get dressed for school, and leave such fantasies behind."

As Kaolinite left, little Hotaru hung her head and sighed. Turning back to the window, she saw that the jogger was gone. Did even the jogger not want to have anything to do with her? The thought made her feel even sadder as she left the window to get dressed for another day of school.

As she began to dress though, a thought occurred to her. What if the jogger wasn't just going to jog by her window today, what if they were going to do so tomorrow too? And maybe the next day? Who knows, maybe the person would jog by her window from now on. The thought somehow lifted her spirits a bit as she slipped her skirt on. If the jogger went by every morning, wouldn't it give her something wonderful to look forward to every morning?

Hotaru finished dressing and left her bedroom, the thought of her new early morning friend giving her a reason to smile as she descended the stairs to grab breakfast before school.

-0-0-0-

Haruka retraced her steps through the park onto the school's grounds. Seeing her dorm once more, she let loose and sprinted the last leg of it. She wanted to forget about dreams, about school, about everything. She wanted to become the wind. To be just like the wind, wrestling free from the domination of gravity and plunging forth into the vast reaches of the sky.

Reaching the building, she finally stopped as she gasped for air, her lungs burning and her legs feeling like lead. After stretching once more, she went in to take a shower before her classes began.

-End Third Interlude-


	15. Chapter 12

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XII-

It was a rainy Saturday in late March of 1992. Two figures faced off in a park, surrounded by trees and a small brook with a small stone bridge nearby to bear witness. The girl got a message to come here, and brought an umbrella with her. On non-rainy days the park could be quite beautiful, and perhaps her boyfriend wished to take advantage of the setting for some romantic purpose. When she got to their rendezvous point however, she could see in his eyes what was coming even before he said it.

"A huge girl like you just isn't my type."

The speaker, a high school senior, immediately regretted his choice of words when he noticed the effect they had on his girlfriend Makoto. The girl let her umbrella drop, cold rain droplets fell on her and mixed with the tears that were running down her cheeks. He couldn't bear the look of pain and devastation in her eyes any longer, and so he turned and left, leaving the brunette with the ponytail standing there in the rain as she felt her whole world crumbling.

He walked out the west gate, turned right, and passed Michiru as she was walking in the opposite direction. She wore a tan rain coat and held a black umbrella above her head as she made her way down the sidewalk, checking her watch as she proceeded past a post office box. Coming to the end of the block, which met at a four way intersection, she turned left to face the westward flow of traffic. Her teeth were starting to chatter a bit in the cold wet weather as she checked her watch again. Right on time, just like clockwork, she heard the motor in the distance. Even in the crowded streets of Tokyo traffic, the sound of Haruka Tenoh's new motorcycle was distinct.

She looked up from her watch. Haruka wore her red motorcycle gear today. Michiru mused over whether she might've worn that one today because the red gear was warmer or perhaps more water resistant. She watched silently but intently as the other girl rode up to the intersection, waited for the green light, then sped off down the road away from her. Ten-thirty, just like clockwork.

She turned once Haruka was out of sight. Over the last three months she'd watched a great deal of Haruka Tenoh. She now knew that the girl loved salads, especially the caesar salad she ordered at a restaurant near the garage she frequented. She knew that she craved speed, whether it came from running, driving or motorcycle riding. And she'd also observed that for all her flirting she didn't seem to have anyone in her life, at least not long-term. She observed all this and more over the past few months, from a distance.

That was all about to change.

In a few days, weather permitting, the first inter-school track meet of the season would happen. Boys and girls from at least five schools would be participating in the events, and she'd already secured herself a ticket for the event. Elsa Gray would be there too, participating both the hurdles and the thousand meter. Michiru planned to ask Elsa to introduce her to Haruka.

"Shouldn't you be practicing your violin, Michiru-chan?"

Michiru looked behind her, startled a bit to see Pluto walking up behind her. The Guardian of the Time Gate was in disguise, but her aura gave her away to the young violinist. She was dressed fashionably in a dark blue jacket over a skirt and blouse that showed off her curves and long legs. She held a matching blue umbrella, and once she caught up with Michiru the two began to walk together. "I understand a painting of yours is going to be on exhibit."

"Hai, it's to be shown during a charity event aboard a private yacht. I made a painting of my nightmares. I've seen the end of the world so many times in my sleep I decided I needed to capture it on canvas, to make it tangible. Do you know," she said, turning to Pluto with a half-smile, "I've done paintings of flowers, landscapes, nuns and fellow students. It took a painting of death and destruction though for me to get noticed by others." She looked ahead once more as she added, "I'm also going to be playing my violin on the night of the showing."

"Yes, I know. I have the program," Pluto said, pulling the flier for the event out of her jacket pocket. "That's why I asked if you shouldn't be practicing your violin right now?"

"You're right of course," Michiru answered. "I just wanted to see her again though, to be in her presence once more."

"Have you decided upon a course of action?" Pluto asked as they neared the bus depot.

"Hai. I plan to approach her after the track meets in three days."

"Would you like my help?"

"No. Thank you, but I want... I _need_ to do this myself."

Pluto smiled. "I understand."

"Michiru-chan, what are you doing out this way?"

Both Michiru and Pluto turned to see Sister Claire coming up behind them carrying an umbrella and two shopping bags filled with groceries and plant fertilizer. She'd been out shopping with the salary the school provided for her, and was on her way to the bus depot to head back to her greenhouse.

"Konichiwa, Claire-sama," Michiru said, "We, ah... We were just out out to walk through the park to find interesting landscapes for me to paint, when this rain seemed to come out of nowhere."

"Yes, that may be, but look at you. You're chilled right to the bone." Sister Claire then turned her attention to Michiru's companion. "Konichiwa, my name is Sister Claire, and you are?"

Pluto and Michiru looked from the nun to each other and then back to the nun again.

"Who, this?" Michiru asked as her mind quickly formulated a response, "Why, this is my older cousin, Meioh-san."

Pluto arched an eyebrow at that. The Japanese word for the planet Pluto was _Meiosei_. In one fell swoop Michiru gave her a name and made a play on words at the same time.

"It's nice to meet you, Meioh-san," Sister Claire said as she bowed politely to Pluto. "I'm sorry though, I didn't catch your first name."

Michiru looked nervous, "Her first name..."

"Setsuna," Pluto answered quickly, "My name's Setsuna Meioh."

Now it was Michiru's turn to look surprised. "Setsuna" was the Japanese term for _momentary_, which could be seen as a way of integrating her nature as temporal guardian into her name. It could also be seen as a play on "setsunai" though, the Japanese word for _painful_. Given her solitary nature as the Guardian of the Gates of Time, Michiru half suspected that Pluto meant both meanings in the name.

"Setsuna?" Sister Claire asked as the bus came up to its appointed stop, "That's a rather pretty name, isn't it? Are you coming with your cousin on the bus?"

"No," Pluto answered, "I was just here to see her to the depot. Michiru-chan," she said as she turned back to her fellow Senshi, "Why don't you help Sister Claire with her bags, and we'll talk again later." She then leaned in and whispered, "And good luck."

Pluto turned away as Michiru and Sister Claire got on the bus. She walked into the now abandoned park just as the rain began to pick up steam, changed into her Senshi form and disappeared into the Time Gate once more.

-0-0-0-

She took another long swig straight from the bottle, welcoming the buzz and intoxication that went along with it like an old familiar friend. The phone next to the computer monitor rang. She frowned, knowing who it was. Taking another gulp, she answered it. "Whuzzup, professor-sama?"

"Zultan," the voice asked on the other end, "Are you drinking?"

"O- only a l-l-little," she slurred, "Helps me t' think."

"Yes, well I hope you're busy thinking of how to fix your debacles as of late. Have you killed Sailor Neptune yet?"

"No," she admitted, "N-not yet. But I 'ave a p-plan."

"Really?" the Professor asked skeptically, "And what might that be?"

Zultan smiled as she reached over and lit a cigarette. "Give me two po-o-ods and I'll tell ya..."

-0-0-0-

Elsa Gray looked up past the grandstands. It was a bit nippy after the last two days of rain, but today there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Looking at her competition, she saw a familiar face. So Haruka had decided to keep the boy's haircut, it would seem. Thinking back, she didn't know if she'd ever spoken to her before. She'd run on the outside of the pack last time, so chances were that the blonde probably didn't even notice her last time. That gave her a chance at a possible psych-out. With a smirk, she decided to walk over.

-0-0-0-

_Haruka stood in the streets and watched as the skies turned blood. The darkness once more began to swallow everything into itself, just as it always did during all her nightmares lately. She couldn't run away, it moved too quickly for that. All she could do was watch in horror at the devastation._

_"The silence is approaching."_

_Haruka turned. The girl in the funny sailor outfit was there too, floating in the air above her. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were clasped together in a prayer like fashion. Around her, a sea-green aura seemed to shine._

_"We must find the Messiah quickly. The ones who can do that are you, and I." She opened her eyes and looked down at Haruka, her pleading gaze cutting into the blonde as everything began to go blurry..._

-0-0-0-

Haruka came to with a start. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes as she tried to calm down. "That again," she whispered. The vision was a familiar one by now. This was, however, the first time she could remember ever having had it while awake. That fact alone left her a bit shaken.

"I hear you're very fast."

Haruka turned to the speaker, a runner with dusky skin and reddish brown hair.

"But I won't lose," Elsa said with a grin, trying to get into the other runner's head. She expected some sort of wisecrack remark or comeback. Instead, Haruka just stared at her hard for a second or two, like she was trying to bring herself into focus.

"On your marks," the voice announced. Haruka, Elsa and the five other runners quickly squatted down into position, awaiting the start of the race. "Ready!" Elsa quickly glanced over to Haruka. The girl resembled a lioness ready to pounce. At the sound of the gun, all seven girls in the race rushed forward. Haruka took the decisive lead early, running like a demon down the track. The sound of the wind rustling echoed in her ears even as she tried to run away from her dreams and visions down the track.

Haruka crossed the finish line, only dimly aware of the other runners finishing the race behind her or the cheering of the crowd. She went back to her gym bag she set below the bleachers near where the students from her school were sitting. It was still relatively chilly as she put on a pair of purple sweatpants and a sweatshirt for warmth.

"Tenoh Haruka-san."

Haruka turned to see the dark-skinned runner from earlier coming up to her, the girl smiling in a show of good sportsmanship.

"I had heard rumors about you," Elsa said as she kept up the pretext of not having raced Haruka before. "You really **are** amazing. I have someone I want to introduce you to. Come on over, Michiru."

Haruka turned from Elsa and saw a breathtaking vision coming towards her. The girl's wavy shoulder length aquamarine hair framed her face and slender swan-like neck perfectly. And what a face it did frame, with deep dark blue eyes that sparkled as she returned the blonde's gaze, a nose worthy of a Michaelangelo sculpture, and full rounded lips that were formed into a shy half-smile. She came closer, clutching a sketchbook close to her chest.

As she gazed upon the girl, Haruka could've sworn she heard faint music coming from somewhere in the distance, along with the faint scent of roses.

"This is Kaioh Michiru-san. She's really intelligent, and she's said to be a prodigious painter. She says she's interested in you."

"You aren't sweating at all," Michiru said as she came over to stand next to Elsa and across from Haruka, "Perhaps you were holding back quite a bit?"

Haruka smirked at that. "What do you mean?"

Michiru smiled as she leaned forward ever so slightly. "Can't you hear the sound of wind rustling?"

Haruka's jaw dropped, the scent of flowers and sound of music forgotten in a flash as a sinking feeling took hold of her. It was _her_, the girl from her visions, the one who spoke of grails and Messias and past lives and Senshi.

As they continued to stare at one another, Haruka realized that all this time it was her, Michiru, whom she'd been running away from these past few months. She swallowed hard as she quickly worked to regain her composure.

"You're weird," she finally said as she bent down and picked up her gym bag, "So, what do you want with me?" she asked, turning her back to Michiru as she gazed at her over her shoulder.

Michiru should've expected the response, especially since she'd fought against her own destiny for so long. Still, coming from the girl before her, the rejection hurt nonetheless. "Would you be a model for one of my drawings?" she asked, looking down at her sketchbook then quickly bringing her eyes back up to Haruka.

Haruka looked away from Michiru. "I'll pass," she said dismissively as she started to walk away, "I don't like stuff like that."

Michiru watched silently as Haruka headed for the locker room, a small sigh escaping her as the blonde disappeared behind the door.

"Michiru-chan," Elsa asked as she placed a hand on her classmate's shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Hai," she muttered half-heartedly, "I'll be fine."

Elsa shook her head. "Hey, don't let a jerk like that get to you. Come on, Takaiyo is working one of the concession stands with her sempai Chieko. Let's go check up on them, and maybe the four of us can do something together."

Michiru slowly nodded her head. "Hai," she said as she followed Elsa. Looking back over her shoulder at the locker room doors though, she narrowed her eyes determinedly. This wasn't over yet, she told herself. Not by a long shot.

-To Be Continued-


	16. Chapter 13

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Sailor Moon or the character Sailor Neptune. Both are owned by Naoko Takeuchi.

-0-0-0-

-XIII-

Haruka walked into the locker room, making sure the door was shut behind her. Once she was confident she was alone, she looked down at her hands and saw them shaking. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. She pushed herself off the wall and headed for her locker. After a quick shower, she dressed and cautiously looked outside the door to see if Michiru was still there. Confident that she wasn't, she exited.

She was making her way to the bleachers where her class was sitting when a voice called out to her. "Hey, Ruka-chan."

Haruka flinched at the "chan." She turned to see her school principal Shintaro Katsu coming towards her, along with another man in a business suit she didn't recognize. "Ruka-chan, I'd like you to meet someone very special. This is Kan Shimozawa, a very prominent businessman in this district, as well as something of a well known philanthropist."

Kan bowed to Haruka with a smile, his white mustache was waxed at the ends to curl upwards. "I'm giving a charity dinner and concert tonight aboard my private yacht. There will be classical music, an art exhibit, and fine French cuisine. All the winners of today's races are invited to tonight's event free of charge, and it would give me great pleasure if you were able to attend.

Haruka smiled back. "Thank you for your offer, but unfortunately I don't own anything formal enough to wear to such an event."

Kan waved away the objection. "That's no problem, I can write you out a check now to see to it that you'll be properly dressed."

Haruka thought about it. It would definitely be a welcome distraction to take her mind off Messias and the end of the world. Besides, it gave her an excuse to wear a tux. "Very well," she said, "I'll go."

-0-0-0-

Hironari hung up the phone excitedly as Haruka came into the garage. "Ruka-kun, I just got off the phone. You'll never believe what happened!"

Haruka brought up a hand to her forehead and grimaced. "Let me guess; a mysterious girl told you I had to help her save the world."

"No, I... _huh_?" Hironari asked, visibly confused.

"Nothing. What's your news."

"Well, remember how you managed to get into the time trials at the racetracks two weeks ago?"

Haruka gave her friend a friend a look as a grin slowly began to form at the corners of her mouth, "Yeah, I remember. Why?"

"Kazuo Kojima of Tokohama Motors was in the stands scouting, and wants to sponsor you! Congradulations, you're now officially the first Junior racer in Japan!"

The normally reserved Haruka shouted out "**Yes!**" as she raised her hands up triumphantly above her. Both she and Hironari began jumping up and down, shouting "Yes!" over and over again as a young kid walked into the garage, staring at the two with an amused expression.

"Hey," the kid called over, "Why don't you two just get a room and get it over with already?"

"Goseki," Hironari growled at his younger brother as both he and Haruka turned red from embarrassment, "Keep it up and I'll see to it that dad grounds your ass for a month."

"Whatever," Goseki said as he dismissed the threat with a wave of his hand. "So exactly what are you two celebrating anyways?"

"I've got a racing sponsor," Haruka said proudly.

Goseki's eyes widened. "Wow, really?"

"Yeah," Hironari put in, "And she was going to ask you to be in her pit crew, but of course if you're not interested..."

"Who said I'm not interested?" the young kid pouted, causing both Haruka and Hironari to laugh. Out of the corner of her eye though, Haruka noticed the time on the clock above the tool box and frowned.

"Nuts," she sighed. "Listen guys, I've got to get going. I'm going to a fancy dress party tonight on a yacht, and I have to get something to wear."

"A yacht?" Hironari asked, visibly impressed, "Wow, things are really starting to look up for you aren't they?"

"You know it," Haruka said with a cocky grin as she went to her car and backed out of the garage. She was now an official race car driver with a sponsor, was invited to a fancy dress part aboard a private yacht, and had won first place in her track event. And to top everything else off, she'd been accepted into Mugan Academy for next Fall. Everything was coming together for her, and she was getting her life on track. The last thing she needed now was that creepy green-haired girl messing everything up with her end of the world talk.

As she drove out onto the streets, Haruka allowed a sigh of relief. Tonight there'd be no Messias, no talk of Senshi or of past life gobbledy-gook. Tonight she'd be with a group of rich philanthropists and her fellow runners. She'd be able to simply sit back and relax.

-0-0-0-

Haruka sat in her chair at the table in the ballroom of the top floor of Kan Shimozawa' private yacht. Her dinner had been delicious, but she hardly touched any of it. Instead, she'd spent most of the evening scowling at the violinist on the stage. Here. Why did she have to be_ here_?

"That girl is Michiru Kaioh," a fellow runner, a senior, said nearby.

"She sure doesn't look like a junior high student," his date replied, commenting on the violinist's physical beauty. "She must be quite popular at school, don't you think?"

"I heard that she doesn't make many friends."

"I wonder why," the woman said, unaware of the rumors started at St. Agatha's after Miyuki asked to no longer be Michiru's sempai, "She seems like a wonderful girl."

"Yeah, I heard that she doesn't like people..." Haruka didn't hear the rest of the conversation as she got up from the table. She needed some air, someplace she could go to think. She got up and headed towards the back. Opening one of the rear doors, she found herself in a long corridor. She walked along it to a flight of stairs. Above the stairs, on the wall, a large wall painting hung. Haruka gasped as she looked at it.

It was a painting of an apocalypse, the end of the world. An ocean wave thousands of feet high was bearing down on Tokyo, crushing buildings and destroying everything in it's path.

"Did you find it to your liking?"

Haruka looked down. Michiru was sitting primly at the bottom of the landing, dressed in an elegant white chiffon dress which was accented by a pearl necklace. Her creamy white skin, along with her choice of attire, gave her almost a porcelain doll appearance. Looking from her painting to Haruka, she smiled. "Thank you for coming here tonight. Tenoh Haruka-san, the prodigious racer."

Haruka tilted her head a bit. Something in the artist's voice unnerved her, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "You seem to know quite a bit about me," she finally said. "This piece, did you paint it?"

"You're rather famous," Michiru answered, ignoring the question about the painting. "There are a lot of freakish fans of yours at my school as well. One of them is a girl," she said playfully as she tossed her hair back, "But she says she still wants to go cruising along the beach with you in your car."

Haruka chuckled a bit at that, half-guessing that the girl Michiru was referring to was herself. She brought her attention back to the painting. "The end of the world, huh? I'm surprised that a well-to-do girl who can't even kill a bug could draw such a tragic fantasy."

Michiru narrowed her eyes. "It's not a fantasy," she said defensively, "I can see that scene clearly, just like you can."

Haruka turned away from the painting and gave Michiru a hard glare as the violinist stood up from her seated position. "This is stupid." she hissed, "I'm Haruka Tenoh, the first Junior racer in Japan. Memories of my previous life or the end of the world have nothing to do with me. If someone has to do it, then **you** can do it! And I would like you to stop investigating me like that!"

Michiru crossed her hands as she looked down and away from Haruka's gaze. "Don't say such selfish things like that," she said passionately. Looking back up at the other girl, she met Haruka's gaze with a hard stare of her own, surprising the racer by how strong she was. "I don't want to do it either. I also have a dream, to become a violinist. You say, 'I can't do something stupid like saving the world from destruction,' and you think that's the end of it?" Michiru closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself before continuing. "I don't want to do it either, Haruka-san. When I found out about all this, I fought it too."

Haruka crossed her arms. "Really?" she sneered. "And tell me, just what changed your mind?"

Michiru's features softened as she came a step closer up the stairs. "You," she answered, her tone entreating, "You changed my mind."

Haruka didn't know what to make of such a response. "Stupid," she muttered as she turned away, heading back up the stairs. "Stupid."

Michiru watched her ascend the stairs and disappear down the corridor. She hung her head as she sat back down on the stairs, unsure of what to do next.

-0-0-0-

Two days later, the final buzzer for school rang out. Hironari's younger brother Goseki started to walk home, his parent's house close enough not to need a bus. He'd received a ninety-four on his math exam, and couldn't wait to show his folks.

"Hey Goseki-kun, wait up."

Goseki turned to see his classmate Fujiko Watsuki coming up to him, the young girl's dark hair in pigtails and her school dress down to just below her knees. "Goseki-kun, could you walk me home? I'm going to have to pass by the Koike's house, and they have that big scary doberman in their front yard."

Goseki smirked, "They also have that big picket fence in their front yard to keep the dog in. But," he said with a shrug, "I guess I can if you want me to."

And so the two grammar school kids walked down the sidewalk together, unaware of the figure coming up behind them.

"Young man, did you drop this?"

Both children turned to see a woman with light blue hair holding up a small antique pocket watch by a golden chain. "Huh?" Goseki asked, "No, that's not mine."

"Are you sure?" she asked as the watch began to gently swing back and forth from it's chain. "Look closer, perhaps it's a family heirloom. And you," she said to Fujiko, "Look at how it glistens and sparkles as it swings back and forth. Does it look familiar to you perhaps?"

"N-no," Fujiko murmured, suddenly having trouble keeping her eyes open. Goseki's eyes were already almost completely shut.

"Really? Still, it's a beautiful watch, isn't it? Watch it, swinging back and forth, rocking gently like an infant in its mother's arms. Listen to my voice, focus on the watch, see how it shines," she said as she slowly began to back her way into a secluded alley, the two children following her as if they were mesmerized. "Before you two children go, I have a special treat for you," she said with a smile as she reached into her pocket and pulled out two of the professor's pods. "These are two very tasty cookies I have on me that I'd like you both to have. Eat them, **now**."

The two children knew deep down that something was wrong, that they shouldn't be accepting sweets from a stranger, but somehow they couldn't refuse. They took the pods and placed them in their mouths. Suddenly, both children made faces as they began to gag on the foul-tasting pods.

"Oh no you don't," Zultan growled as she suddenly covered their mouths with her hands to keep them from spitting the pods out, "Eat! Swallow!"

Fujiko began to whimper, the girl's eyes tearing up as she swallowed the hideous-tasting pod. Goseki moaned in discomfort as he likewise swallowed his pod. Zultan released the two children who, once out of her clutches, began to run away to tell an adult. The witch started laughing as she ran in the opposite direction, heading out of the other end of the alley where her car was waiting for her.

Sailor Neptune always seemed to show up when others were in danger, always there to defend children and others from her and her daemons. Now, Zultan mused, she'd be able to see what the Senshi did when faced with innocent children who were turned into daemons, forced to perhaps even take an innocent life in order to protect that of others. The thought caused her to cackle even louder as she drove out into traffic, nearly sideswiping a fellow motorist as she made her getaway.

-To Be Continued-


	17. Chapter 14

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XIV-

Goseki ran to his house, with Fujiko following close behind. The two were starting to experiencing painful stomach cramps as they hurried down the sidewalk, the young girl still crying after Zultan forced her and Goseki to eat Professor Tomoe's daemon pods. When they got to the door however, they found it locked.

A brief note explained that they were with Goseki's older brother Hironari and his friend Haruka down at the racetrack today to examine the racecar Haruka's sponsor provided for her. The note also invited Goseki to come up when he got out of school.

"What do we do now?" Fujiko wept.

"I don't know," Goseki groaned out as he clutched the sides of his abdomen. "I'm going to try to make it to the racetrack, though."

"I'm going to go try to make it to my house then," Fujiko whimpered. The two children separated, with the little girl heading towards the more populated area of the suburbs where her parents lived. She wiped the tears from her eyes and ignored the adults asking if she was lost as she walked past a small art gallery along the route.

-0-0-0-

"Is this good, Michiru-chan?"

"Hmm?" Michiru asked as she straightened out one of her paintings up on the wall. After her painting had been exhibited on board Kan Shimozawa's private yacht, a prominent art dealer had contacted her about a showing at a small gallery he owned. After obtaining permission from Principal Ichi, Michiru and her roommate were almost done with setup."

"I said, is this good?" Takaiyo asked.

"Oh, yes. That's fine," Michiru responded with a wave of her hand. This was her big break in the art world, but her mind wasn't on any of it. All she could thing about was Haruka, and how the blonde rejected her with the words "stupid, stupid."

"You've changed."

"Huh?" the artist asked as she looked over at Takaiyo.

"You're not the same girl I knew when we first met at the beginning of the semester."

"Oh?"

"You've become distant somehow. There's a coldness about you now Michiru-chan, one that wasn't there before. I..." Takaiyo stopped as she saw Michiru's eyes widen suddenly, as if she'd seen a ghost. The artist gasped and her whole body suddenly seemed to stiffen. "Michiru-chan?"

"The sea is stormy."

Takaiyo looked at her funny. "The sea is what?"

Michiru didn't answer. Instead, she rushed past her schoolmate and out of the gallery. Looking around at the men and women walking around her on the sidewalk, she heard the waves pounding behind her and turned, following the sound down and around the back of a restaurant. The waves roared almost deafeningly as she came upon a small girl curled up into a fetal position on the ground, crying in pain as she held her sides. Michiru quickly looked around as the storm continued to grow, but could see no youma or daemon nearby.

"Help me," the girl cried as she saw Michiru. She was about to say more, when suddenly a thick black cloud surrounded her, the girl screaming as she transformed into a huge dark blue tarantula, venom dripping from its razer sharp fangs.

Michiru immediately pulled her henshin wand out. "Neptune planet power, make up!" A second later, Sailor Neptune stood before the daemon, crouched down in a fighting stance.

"Help... me..." a voice cried out into Michiru's consciousness as she saw an image of the child within the daemon.

Sailor Neptune's eyes widened. This wasn't simply another inanimate object brought to life. This was a little girl who'd been turned into some sort of monster. The thing lunged at her, hoping to take advantage of the Senshi's momentary indecision. Neptune's quick reflexes allowed her to get out of the way in time, but as she landed the daemon shot webbing out, trapping her in place from the waist down.

Sailor Neptune looked down at her lower torso now completely covered with sticky webbing. She turned her attention quickly back to the tarantula hissing at her as it began to bear its fangs. The Senshi realized that if she didn't end this now, not only would she herself end up dead, but that the youma would very probably go on to kill others as well.

"Forgive me," she whispered as she raised her arms up above her head, energy flowing and swelling up within her as she did so. "Deep Submerge!"

The blast hit the daemon full on, causing it to roar in pain before turning back into a girl. As she fell unconscious to the ground, the pod rose out of her body and crumbled to dust. The webbing disappeared and Sailor Neptune quickly picked the girl up, thankful to find a pulse. As the girl started to stir, the Senshi released her transformation and was once more Michiru Kaioh.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Mmm," the girl muttered as she opened her eyes. "I'm okay I guess."

"Do you remember what happened?"

The girl nodded. "There was a bad lady with blue hair and a gold watch."

"Blue hair," Michiru repeated as she narrowed her eyes, "_Zultan_..."

"She made us look at her watch, then eat these nasty cookies that made us sick."

"Us?" Michiru suddenly asked in alarm.

"Me and my friend Goseki," she answered, "I was on my way to my parent's house, and he was heading for the racetrack to find his brother Hironari and Hironari's friend Haruka."

Michiru's heart began to race in panic. "Are you going to be alright?" She asked as she put the girl down. Fujiko nodded yes, and Michiru turned and rushed off.

-0-0-0-

Haruka finished looking over her sponsor's new car. She excused herself from her new pit crew as well as her new sponsor in order to go into the changing room in the back of one of the out of the way garages along pit row. She chose that particular dressing room for both its privacy and because it was one of the larger ones here at the racetrack. She was wearing her new red racing uniform with her sponsor's name on it, and she was carrying her helmet over her shoulder. As she entered the garage though, she thought she saw someone crouched down in the back corner of the garage. "Is someone there?"

Goseki turned to Haruka, his face contorted in pain. "Help me."

"What's wrong?" Haruka asked in alarm. She tossed her helmet aside as she knelt down and put a hand on Goseki's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Help me..." he pleaded once more. He then let out a scream as black smoke surrounded him. In his place was a huge purplish-black creature that almost looked like a gigantic worm, with large razor-sharp teeth jutting out of its mouth. It reared up, slime glistening from its body.

Haruka stepped back in shock. "You... Monster!" she yelled as she quickly grabbed a tire iron and prepared to fight the thing.

"Help me..." a voice called out weakly. Goseki's image shone briefly before once more disappearing into the monster. Haruka froze, and the thing attacked, knocking the blonde back and the tire iron out of her hands. It reared back to strike again, ready for the kill. Haruka gritted her teeth in preparation, when suddenly a shining gold light appeared between the racer and the daemon. As Haruka watched in amazement, a wand materialized within the light, floating between her and the youma. She began to reach for it.

"Don't do it!" a voice called over. Haruka pulled her hand back and the wand fell to the floor and rolled away from her. "Don't grab that." The racer turned around to see Michiru standing in the doorway of the garage. She was leaning with her back up against the entrance as she caught her breath after rushing over to the race course.

"Once you grab a hold of it," Michiru warned, "You can never again return to mundane life."

Then, as Haruka watched in awe, she held her wand aloft and transformed once more into Sailor Neptune.

For a brief half-a-second, Haruka became once more aware of the scent of roses and the distant sound of music.

Then, the daemon roared, reminding Haruka that she was still in danger.

The thing lunged at Neptune. The Senshi struck it, sending it hurtling into the wall where it crashed into a shelving unit and sent tools flying everywhere. The shelving unit landed hard on the daemon, sending a cloud of dust up into the air as Sailor Neptune started to come towards it once more.

Haruka had seen enough though. "You can't" she shouted as she placed herself between Neptune and the Daemon, "He was human until just a few minutes ago!" She clenched her fists as she met the other girl's eyes. "Are you alright doing this?" she demanded, "This is murder!"

Michiru narrowed her eyes. "The silence is approaching," she said, trying to make Haruka understand the stakes that were involved. "If I don't do this, there will be even more victims."

Haruka shook her head in disbelief. "Are you saying that's why you don't care how you accomplish it?"

Michiru took a deep breath. "That's right," she said as she started once more to come forward, "I don't care what means I use."

Haruka couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you really satisfied..." her voice died off as, with a loud crash, the youma reared up, sending the shelving unit flying as it bore its teeth with a loud roar.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion for Haruka. She turned her head to look over her shoulder as the daemon sprang forward, ready for the kill. There was no possibility of escape for the blonde, when suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her like a vice and almost knock the wind out of her as she was pushed out of harms way to the ground. "Look out!" Neptune yelled just before she cried out in pain.

Haruka landed hard on her back, with Sailor Neptune on top of her. Neptune could feel a sharp, agonizing pain in her back and along the bicep and tricep of her left arm as she looked back at the monster. While Haruka tried to catch her breath after the wind had been knocked out of her, Neptune painfully forced herself up to her feet. The daemon roared and prepared for it's next attack as the Senshi raised her arms above her head.

"Deep Submerge!"

In a blinding flash of sea green light, the daemon dissolved back into Goseki. The boy fell unconscious to the floor as Sailor Neptune sank to her knees. She could feel the back of her fuku beginning to become wet with her blood, the wounds in her left upper arm sending long winding rivulets of scarlet down her elbow and past her wrist, where they began to slowly drip from her gloved hand to the garage floor. She started to collapse, but suddenly felt Haruka's strong arms wrapped around her. Grimacing in pain, she looked up into the blonde's teal eyes. "Where's the monster?" she asked weakly.

"He turned back into a human," Haruka answered, trying to keep her voice steady as her outfit became stained with Neptune's blood. "He's all right."

Sailor Neptune turned with a look of concern towards the young boy. "I might have killed him," she said, her voice trembling a bit as she watched the child's chest rise and fall with each breath. "No, next time I'm sure I'll kill." She briefly glanced back up to Haruka before looking back over to the child. "It's not that I'm fine with it," she revealed, "But I am a Senshi... Because I chose to do this..."

"Then why did you cover for me just now?" Haruka asked as she felt Neptune begin to shiver in her arms. She grabbed the Senshi's left wrist and held it up, blood dripping from the arm's wounds, "If you hurt your hand, you won't be able to become a violinist."

Neptune looked up at Haruka once more and managed a smile. "I didn't investigate you because you were the other Senshi," she said weakly. If all she's wanted was information on her as a Senshi, she could've very easily have gotten that from Pluto. "It goes back much further than when I realized you were the one, back when you were just a voice in my dreams. I was watching you in your first auto race from close by, when you made your time trials. I wanted to cruise along the beach in your car... just once..."

"You don't rely on anyone at all," she continued, her smile widening a bit as she continued, "And you are always honest with your feelings."

Haruka looked down at Sailor Neptune, her feelings in turmoil as she gazed at the beautiful Senshi in her arms. As Neptune's breathing became a bit more shallow and her blood began to pool in the folds of Haruka's racing uniform, the blonde shook her head. "I'm not honest at all," she said bitterly as she found herself holding the Senshi closer, "I keep running away."

"I know more about you than you do," Sailor Neptune responded, her eyes starting to water up as Haruka began to appear a bit out of focus, "Because I've been watching you for the last few months, always in the shadows. You were the one person I didn't want to see walking the same path that I did, to know the pain and hardships that came with being a Senshi. But... When I finally saw you and realized you were the one... I was so happy..." Sailor Neptune grimaced in pain once more, closing her eyes tightly as tears began to run down her cheeks. "Gomen... I didn't mean to tell you all this... Gomen..." she whispered before her eyes fluttered a bit and she passed out.

Haruka was speechless. She looked from Sailor Neptune to the wand lying on the floor of the garage. Goseki began to moan. Haruka realized that if she was going to do something, it would have to be soon before the boy recovered. She picked up the unconscious Senshi and quickly went over to the henshin wand. She held Neptune close as she squatted down and picked the wand up. She put it in her pocket and rushed into the dressing room in the back. The dressing room was complete with a deluxe first-aid kit complete with bandages and medicinals for the treatment of burn victims, as well as gauze and medicine that promoted blood clotting in case of nasty crash-related wounds. Haruka set Sailor Neptune down on one of the benches and immediately began to undress. After retrieving her wand from her pocket and carefully setting it down next to Neptune, she tossed her bloody outfit into a nearby trash can and ran out into the garage.

Goseki slowly opened his eyes and saw Haruka crouched down on the floor cleaning something up with a shop rag in her bra and panties. The sight immediately brought him to. "Haruka?"

"Tell you what," Haruka said over her shoulder as she finished cleaning Neptune's blood off the floor, "You don't tell anyone about this, and I won't tell anyone about that hentai your brother found underneath your mattress. Deal?"

A thousand and one questions arose in the boys mind, all of them were silenced by the image of what his mom and dad would do if they found out about the hentai. "Deal."

"Good," Haruka said, "Now go, and shut the garage door behind you."

As Goseki shut the door behind him, Haruka ran back into the dressing room. Unconscious, Sailor Neptune had de-transformed back into Michiru. Haruka threw the rag she'd used to pick up the blood away, then threw a nearby newspaper in to cover the evidence of what was in the trash can. She then returned to Michiru. After making sure she was still breathing, Haruka began to undress her in order to tend to her wounds.

-To Be Continued-

End Notes: I realize I deviated just a tad from the original dialogue this time around, but hopefully that will be forgiven and won't take too much away from enjoying the story.


	18. Interlude 4

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude IV-

While Haruka tended to Michiru's injuries and Sailor Pluto stood at the Time Gate, in England Sailor V narrowed in on the leader of the Dark Agency. Elsewhere, as Queen Beryl marshaled her forces and the Death Busters continued to plot in the shadows, Queen Nehelenia raged impotently against the empty husk of Helios while Sailor Galaxia traveled amongst the stars with her Sailor Animamates.

And as the general population lived in blissful ignorance of such things, there was yet another actor in the unfolding drama waiting to step out onto the stage...

-0-0-0-

She somberly folded another blouse and placed it carefully into her suitcase. She didn't want to leave today to see her father. The man cared nothing for her, and he certainly showed little enough affection to her mother when she was alive, except for when the cameras were rolling and he needed his family around him for votes. The thought made her frown even harder as she continued packing.

"Rei-chan," her grandfather said as he came into the door frame, "Are you ready yet? Your father's limo will be here any minute."

Rei Hino turned to her grandfather with a piercing glare as she moved a strand of jet-black hair away from her eyes. "Why am I doing this again?"

"Rei-chan..."

"The shrine won't take care of itself, Ojii-san. I'm a miko. You need me to sweep the floor, rake the leaves and a dozen other things, not the least of which is keeping you out of trouble."

"Keep me out of... Rei-chan, I don't need a babysitter, I'm quite old enough to take care of myself, thank you."

"But..."

"And you're only going to be gone for the weekend. Two days, what's the worst that can happen?" Rai raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't you look at me in that tone of voice young lady."

"Excuse me," a middle aged man in a black suit and tie said as he respectfully entered the room and bowed. "Hino Rei-san, I am to drive you to meet your father."

Rei rolled her eyes, "You know," she grumbled as she clenched her fists, "The worst part of all this is that he's still going to want me to spend time with him on my birthday in a few weeks." ignoring the looks both her grandfather and her father's limo driver were giving her, she closed her suitcase and picked it up. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked acerbically as she stomped out of her room, "Daddy needs his photo ops."

-0-0-0-

_She lay in a fetal position with her legs curled in and her head bent down, just as she had for thousands upon thousands of years. Monitors and circuits ceaselessly monitored her anabolic motor relays, as well as other biological functions, all slowed down to the point of near death. Advanced systems well beyond anything Earth had yet devised updated her every so often on man's progress through small electrodes connected directly into her cerebrum. She saw glimpses of the building of Stone Henge, watched silently as the Sumerians invented the wheel and, later, the Egyptians carved the Sphinx and built the pyramids. She saw an Athenian philosopher drink hemlock, Rome become a world power, a Judean prophet executed on a cross, as well as the rise and fall of one empire after another. _

_She saw these and many more bits of human history unfold as she continued her hyper sleep. Some of the images she understood, most she didn't, but she tried her best to make sense of it all as she waited for her time. She was given a most special commission, one which only she could carry out when the new age dawned upon the world. And as she slept in suspended animation while her life capsule continued to monitor her functions, the computers within her pod awaited the one thing that would cause all the systems to go online and awaken her._

_That one thing being the near approach of a Senshi._

-0-0-0-

"Your father says he misses you," the driver said over his shoulder, trying to make small talk as he drove his boss' daughter into the city. Rei simply huffed and looked out the window at the buildings and people as they drove through one block after another. "Oh no," she heard just as the limo slowed down. Looking over, she saw a road crew working on the road ahead of them. A burly construction worker with a "Detour" sign was directing traffic to a small road on the left.

"That road will bring us to the Sumida-gawa bridge, won't it?" Rei asked.

"Hai, thirty minutes out of the way," the driver wined, "Your dad will have my hide."

"Don't worry," Rei answered absently as she looked back out the window, "I'll explain." She suddenly got a funny feeling as they reached the bridge, as if someone had just walked over her grave. She didn't know what it was, but something definitely felt off. Making a mental note of it, she resolved to check the flames back at the Hikawa Shrine when she returned after the weekend with her father.

-0-0-0-

_The small life pod began to light up, neon blue and yellow lights blinking on and off as its sensors detected a Senshi's presence within 200 yards of its perimeter. An electric shock was administered directly into the sleeper's heart, followed by a second and a third. Electrodes and monitor relays slowly withdrew from her body as her circulatory system began once more to function. She grudgingly opened her eyes as a heart monitor displayed her blood pressure briefly before withdrawing from her forelimb. Still groggy and unable to move because of the confined area she found herself in, she looked out past the lights and displays of her capsule to see that she was currently buried underground._

_The capsule shook, then glowed a bright gold as it started to rise out of the earth surrounding it. The earth finally gave way, and she saw a dark gray fish curiously swim up to the viewing window to look in at her. She blinked her eyes as it swam away, followed by several other small fish._

_Suddenly, the capsule opened._

-0-0-0-

The little girl squealed with joy as she ran along the shore of the Sumida-gawa river. She held tightly onto the string of her new red balloon her papa bought her, with her mom and dad following close behind and her brown collie running merrily beside her.

With a start, the girl stopped. The water next to the shore glowed a bright golden orange just before a column of bubbles rose to the surface. Curious, she came closer, bending down as she looked into the murky water. She jumped back with a shriek as something larger than a fish came rapidly up to the surface towards her. It came out coughing and wheezing, crawling wearily onto the shore on all fours as it shook the water from it's fur.

"Mama, papa, look!" the amazed girl said, "A cat with a bald patch!"

Luna continued to cough out the water from the river as she looked curiously at the small child and loud barking collie. She didn't understand the girl's language, but that could be learned easily enough. She cautiously came closer.

"That's not a bald patch sweetheart," her mother said as she came closer for a better look, "It looks more like a patch of fur shaped like a crescent moon."

"Don't get too close to her, hon," her father admonished.

Luna opened herself mentally as she focused on the girl. No, she wasn't a Senshi. Nor was the older one she took to be the child's mother. As the dog continued its incessant barking, placing itself protectively between its young mistress and the strange cat, Luna turned and ran towards the city. The more populated the area, she reasoned, the more opportunities she'd have to hear and learn this foreign tongue. Then she could begin her task of locating the Senshi and their princess.

-End Fourth Interlude-


	19. Chapter 15

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor am I making any profit off of writing this. Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XV-

Takaiyo once again checked her watch and made a face. Michiru had left a little over an hour ago, saying something about the sea being stormy. Who did she think she was, Captain Ahab? Come to think of it though, she did say something similar once in the school cafeteria during the whole library incident. Just her luck to be a roommate to a temperamental artist.

Takayo brushed her red bangs back away from her eyes with her fingers. This was ridiculous. This was Michiru's big art show, and she was nowhere to be found. She decided to give the little prima donna another forty-five minutes, and then she was going to go out and look for her. Seething, the redhead crossed her arms. Wherever she was, Michiru Kaioh had better have a damn good reason for not being in the gallery.

-0-0-0-

_She pulled the curtain back, looking out at what she not so humbly considered to be the most spectacular view in the solar system. Of all the moons circling all the sister planets of the Silver Millennium Kingdom, Triton alone traveled a retrograde orbit, orbiting Neptune in the opposite direction of Neptune's rotation. Her planet had a large blue spot similar to Jupiter's red one, a set of rings like Saturn (but much finer and less bulky than Saturn's. They were more delicate looking and refined, which suited her tastes much better), and the planet was a stormy sea of ocean blues and greens, not unlike the Earth when squinted at from Queen Serenity's palace. It was as if an artist took the best features of the other planets and brought them here for her benefit. There were even twelve other smaller moons orbiting Neptune along with Triton, a solar system within a solar system._

_The planet Neptune itself appeared as a large blue-green ball rising above the horizon, with five of Triton's sister moons visible spread in a long diagonal line rising up from the left across her field of vision. Beyond them, the stars shone brightly, the Milky Way seemingly spread out before her for her benefit alone._

_She turned away, allowing the curtain to once more fall across the window as she strode towards the large heated bath built into the marble floor of her private quarters. Steam rising from it's placid surface carrying with it the scent of lavender and jasmine from Earth. She disrobed, allowing her clothing to fall in a clump behind her as she came up to the edge of the bath and stepped out of the golden high-heeled sandals she'd been wearing. She descended the marble stairs within the bath, closing her eyes and smiling contentedly as she lost herself within her element._

_A set of footsteps behind her alerted the princess that she was no longer alone. She heard a second set of clothes fall to the floor and felt the water around her move as another disturbed its tranquil surface. She smelled her lover's familiar scent just before a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, their fingers brushing sensually against her breasts. She reached behind, her own fingers running through her love's sandy-blonde hair as her fellow princess nuzzled her face up against her neck, her warm breath against her jawline eliciting a soft moan of approval._

-0-0-0-

Haruka reached around Michiru from behind, leaning the girl's back against her as she finished undoing the buttons of her blouse. She quickly pulled the article of clothing off, the girl in her arms moaning a bit as she leaned her head back to rest on the racer's shoulder. The tomboy carefully lowered her back down onto the bench on her side, giving her a clear view of the lacerations on her back.

"Fucking hell," Haruka whispered as she turned away and reached for the first aid kit. The racer was still in nothing but her bra and panties as she grabbed the alcohol swabs and began to wipe away the clotted blood surrounding the wounds. The stinging sensation caused a slight whimper to escape the artist's lips as Haruka began wrapping hand fulls of cotton up in gauze. The blonde started to tape the thin gauze and cotton bundles to Michiru's back when she heard the artist begin to mumble something unintelligible. She bent down, placing her ear up against the other girl's mouth in order to try to hear what she was saying.

"Take me, my love..."

-0-0-0-

_"Take me, my love," Princess Neptune purred as she turned around to look into the beautiful teal eyes she'd long ago fallen in love with. She reached up and stroked Princess Uranus' cheek as her milk-white flesh lay exposed to her lover's gaze. "Taste of my ambrosia," she whispered as she narrowed the gap between them. "Enter my waters, drown in my depths."_

_Their lips met, arms encircling one another as they lost themselves in the moment. Uranus began to guide her towards the side of the bath._

-0-0-0-

Haruka taped more cotton and gauze onto Michiru's back before wrapping bandages around the girl's entire torso, sealing in the gauze as it and the cotton soaked in blood from the wounds. As far as she could tell, although there was a lot of blood the wounds themselves were not terribly deep, which would help in healing. The girl continued to moan and purr as the racer turned her attention to the cuts on her upper arm whispering erotic words of love and lust as the racer continued to tend to her. Of all the strange things she'd witnessed today, she decided that the image of the unconscious girl in front of her having erotic fantasies would definitely have to be among the strangest.

As she started to wipe away at the blood on her tricep with the alcohol wipe, Michiru started to giggle.

-0-0-0-

_They were both lying on the marble floor next to the scented bath, with Uranus laying on top of her. She giggled as the taller princess began to explore the hollow of her neck with the tip of her tongue. A mischievous grin played across Neptune's lips as she surprised her beloved with a quick shift of weight, sending Princess Uranus onto her back as she looked down, her legs straddling the sandy-blonde's hips._

-0-0-0-

"What the hell?" Haruka gasped as both she and Michiru suddenly went tumbling off the bench to the cold tiled floor with a thud, the artist landing on top of the racer. "Michiru," she managed to say as the shorter girl opened her eyes, looking at her in an almost lurid way. She closed them once more and began to lower herself down, her mouth opening slightly as she started to close the gap between their lips.

Haruka's eyes shot wide open. "Michiru! Wha..." she was cut off by a slender finger placed against her lips. Michiru started to tilt her head for the kiss, when she suddenly stopped. Her face seemed to grimace in pain as her whole body shuddered. She pulled back from the tomboy with a groan, shaking her head and bringing her hand to her forehead as if she was coming out of a trance. Opening her eyes, she found herself sitting topless on the other girl's abdomen, the blonde looking up at her in nothing but her bra and panties. "What happened?" she asked groggily.

Haruka raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

Michiru was about to open her mouth to answer when she gasped in pain. "The daemon," she groaned. She brought her hands up to cover her exposed breasts as she looked around. "Where's my blouse?"

"Over there," Haruka answered as she pointed to where the article of clothing lay on the floor. "It's kind of bloody at the moment though."

"Hmm... Then could you at least fetch me my bra?"

Haruka smirked. "I could if you got off me."

"Haruka," a voice called from outside the dressing room as someone knocked on the door, "What's taking you so long to get dressed? Is everything okay?"

Both girls froze as they looked at the door. "Er... I'm fine," Haruka answered, "I'll be out in a few." Michiru slowly rose up from the racer, wincing a bit as she stood on both feet. Haruka got up as well, grabbing the artist's bra and passing it to her as she began to try to clean up the first aid supplies strewn around them.

"Well," Michiru said as she strapped her bra on, "How do we get out of here in our undies?"

"We don't," Haruka responded as she put the first aid kit away and went to her locker. "We use the change of clothes I have here in my locker." She pulled out her boys school uniform and lay her pants, shirt, tie and jacket out on the bench. She then went back into the locker, moving stuff aside as she searched a back corner. "Here," she said as she pulled out a dress and blouse. "They're wrinkly and a bit big for you, but they should fit."

Michiru eyed the skirt and blouse suspiciously. "Whose are they?"

"Mine," Haruka answered as she buttoned up her shirt. "Or at least they were mine until a dream... Well, that's not important. Just put them on."

Michiru put the blouse on, being careful not to aggravate her already painful wounds as she did so. "Arigato," she said as she buttoned up the shirt, "Now if you could just return me to the art gallery in the downtown district..."

"Return you to the... Are you **nuts?**" Haruka asked incredulously as she pulled her pants on, "Do you know how much blood you lost? We're getting you to a hospital."

"Oh?" the artist replied as she turned to her defiantly, "And exactly how would you propose to explain my injuries?" Before Haruka could answer, Michiru shook her head. "No," she said as she fastened the skirt around her waist, "We have to cover this up. It won't be the first time I've had to hide injuries from others, and something tells me it won't be the last," she added gravely.

Haruka frowned as she studied the shorter girl. "Can you even walk?"

"I'm going to have to, aren't I?" she responded as she made her way slowly towards the door. "Tomorrow's Saturday. We'll both have the day off from school. Where do you want to meet?"

Haruka allowed a sigh. "I'll meet you outside your school grounds at eleven."

"Good," Michiru answered with a slight smile. "We have much to discuss."

"I suppose we do," Haruka answered as she started to open the door.

"Haruka," Michiru reminded her, "Your wand."

Haruka quickly went back to the bench and pocketed her henshin wand. She then passed by Michiru and, opening the door for her, led her out.

-0-0-0-

"There you are," Takaiyo said as she put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at Michiru. "You know I've been alone here for the last hour and a half for you? I... Michiru-chan? Michiru-chan, what's wrong? And what happened to your clothes?"

"It's a long story," the artist said as she made her way to a chair in the corner of the gallery next to a potted plant and sat down. "I'll explain later."

From outside the gallery, Haruka looked on silently through the glass front of the art gallery. She wanted to make sure that Michiru would be safe before she left. As she turned away and began to walk back towards where she parked her car, she tried to make sense of her burgeoning feelings for the artist and violinist. She'd first saw her as a beautiful stranger, then as a pest, and now? While part of her dreaded tomorrow as she thought of her new life and new mission, another part of her looked forward to it, to seeing her again and to the scent of roses that seemed to surround her like an aura. She looked uneasily over her shoulder back towards the gallery. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable, yet when she fought that monster she showed a strength Haruka never would've guessed was present. Still, she should've insisted on taking her to the hospital.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she got to the car. A tall statuesque woman was sitting on the hood, her eyes closed as she allowed the wind to blow past her luxuriously long hair. "Hey," Haruka said irritably as she came up to her. "What do you think you're doing? This is my car, you can't just..."

"When you wish to transform," the woman said calmly, seemingly oblivious to Haruka's indignation, "Hold the wand aloft and say 'Uranus planet power, make-up!'"

Haruka tilted her head a bit. "What?" she asked as the stranger gracefully stood up from the hood, "How do you know about the wand?"

"And when you wish to attack," the woman with the emerald green hair continued, "Say 'World Shaking!'" At that, she turned away, leaving the blonde momentarily speechless as she walked away.

"Wait!" Haruka shouted as she finally found her voice again. The stranger stopped, her back still to the racer, "Who the hell are you, anyways?"

"A friend," she replied, turning to offer a fleeting smile, "You can call me Setsuna." She then turned around once more, quickly vanishing from sight behind a white van.

"Hey," Haruka yelled as she ran after her, "Hey wait!" As she got to the van though, Setsuna was already gone. There was a chain link fence on the other side of the empty parking space next to the van, and a brick wall directly in front of it. The tomboy was at a loss as she looked around trying to figure out where she'd gone. Finally giving up, she turned around and, getting into her car, drove off.

-To Be Continued-


	20. Chapter 16

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

Author's Note: Thank you once again for all the kind reviews and constructive criticism. It means a lot to know you guys are appreciating this story.

-0-0-0-

-XVI-

The gallery closed its doors for the night, art critics and admirers raving about the young new artist in their midst. Michiru posed for several photographs alongside her works before pulling out her violin at the end of the exhibit in answer to a request by a French connoisseur to display her musical talents as well. She seemed bright and cheerful to everyone but Takaiyo, who'd been her roommate long enough to see that behind her smiles there was something wrong.

As they now got back to their dorm room and could at last talk candidly, Takaiyo came over to her with a look of concern. "Michiru-chan, are you okay?"

Michiru sat down gingerly on her bed and looked up at the redhead. "Okay? Why, what do you mean?" she asked demurely.

"I mean that before you left the art gallery for a bit you seemed fine. A bit distant maybe, but other than that you were fine. Then, after you came back, you seemed stiff, as if you'd hurt yourself."

Michiru chuckled. "Takaiyo, you're imagining things. Do you really think I could've played the violin like I did back at the gallery if I was 'stiff?'"

Takaiyo narrowed her eyes a bit. She turned around and walked over to her dresser. Next to a small second place statuette she and the other members of the Saint Agatha Academy Girl's Cricket Team had won at the inter school junior finals was her lucky cricket ball. She picked it up. "Hey, Michiru-chan," she said as she turned around and lightly tossed the ball to her roommate, "Catch."

Michiru was taken off guard. She reached out with both hands and caught it, but the action of doing so caused her face to contort in pain as she put strain on her injured back and arm. Takaiyo came over and knelt down in front of her, "Michiru-chan," she said in a soft voice as she put her hands over the artist's, "What happened when you left the gallery?"

Michiru lowered her eyes. "I... I slipped and fell," she said as she got up from the bed. "Now, please, let it go," she said as she passed the cricket ball back over to her roommate. She ignored Takaiyo's worried eyes as she walked out of the room and headed for the stairway to the roof of the building. The sun had set, and as the stars started to show themselves she reflected on the events of the day. Zultan and the Death Busters had crossed the line this time, when they decided to change innocent children into daemons. The change of tactic meant that no one was safe, that the enemy was willing to stop at nothing to attain their goals of bringing the silence.

Then, there was Haruka Tenoh. Michiru brought her hand up to her forehead and allowed a groan as she remembered all she'd confessed to the other girl. She practically came out and said she was in love with her, even giving her the chance to back away from her calling because of her feelings for her. Somehow, after stalking the girl for months, attraction had turned to lust, and lust had turned to love, and it frightened her because deep down she knew it made her vulnerable.

According to Pluto, fate and destiny had brought her and Haruka back together in this lifetime. Somehow, in spite of the danger they'd face and despite her feelings for the racer possibly being an Achilles heel, the thought that they were destined to be together somehow gave her strength to carry on.

She turned away from the night sky and headed back down to her room. Sleep would not come easily to her, but she wanted to at least try to be well rested for tomorrow when she and Haruka saw one another again. She started to think of what would be best to wear for tomorrow, but quickly set such thoughts aside. This wasn't a date, she reminded herself. They were Senshi, chosen to find the Messiah and the talismans before the Silence and the end of the world could come. She had to stay focused.

She re-entered her room. After once more assuring Takaiyo that she was fine, she changed into her nightgown and slipped into bed.

-0-0-0-

She turned away from the night sky, the stars disappearing behing the heavy orange drapes of her bedroom. How was she supposed to get to sleep tonight? She had no way of knowing if Michiru was alright or not, or if she went to the hospital after all.

_"You don't rely on anyone else. And you are always honest with your feelings."_

Haruka changed into her pajamas and pulled back the covers on her bed.

_"I know more about you than you do."_

The scene kept replaying in her head, over and over. She turned off the light and headed to her bed.

_"When I finally saw you and realized you were the one... I was so happy."_

Haruka stopped and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. Part of her still wanted to run away, to give the wand back and turn her back on it all. The part that wanted to watch over and protect Michiru however was growing, as was the part that wanted to see the violinist smile at her again, and to hold her in her arms once more. Not like last time though, when she was injured and Haruka was fearful for the girl's life, but she longed to hold her under different circumstances. Say, in a romantic setting, by candlelight...

Haruka knew where this was going. She was going to have enough trouble getting to sleep tonight without thinking of Michiru Kaioh's beautiful deep blue eyes, or her long luxuriantly wavy sea green hair that reminded one of the waves of the ocean, or those beautiful full lips. Haruka could feel herself growing excited, a low throaty moan escaping her lips as her hands slowly traveled south, her body seeking release. She had two choices; give in, or get up and take a cold shower.

She gave in.

Several minutes later, still shaking and with sweat beading on her forehead, Haruka finally drifted off to sleep. The smile however didn't leave her lips until much later.

-0-0-0-

Zultan inhaled deeply on her cigarette as she pulled out a leather bag from the inside of her tan jacket. She opened it to reveal the finger and hand bones of a left handed man. Taking the bones out, she tossed them into the air, watching intently as they landed on the floor with a clatter. She read the bones, and smiled with glee. She'd hoped to simply demoralize Sailor Neptune, perhaps even force the brat into killing an innocent. But according to the bones the Senshi was seriously injured.

Zultan began to cackle. The result was better than she'd expected. It meant that she would be able to operate for a short time unobstructed. She tossed her cigarette aside and began to make preparations for the next day.

-0-0-0-

Michiru stood in front of the administration building in a light blue skirt and cream colored shirt, with a knit white sweater over the shirt. She also wore a pair of black low-heeled pumps and the pearl necklace from the yacht party. A cool wind blew past her, forcing her to put her hands in her sweater's pockets as her wavy sea green hair blew wildly across her face.

Suddenly, the wind turned warmer. Michiru smiled unconsciously as she heard the sound of Haruka's engine before seeing the car. She swept the hair out of her face as she looked to her right, her eyes meeting those of the blonde behind the wheel as the convertible came to a stop. To her surprise, Haruka got out of the car, walked around and held the door open for her. She blushed a bit as she thanked her and got in.

"So," Haruka said as she got back behind the wheel, "Where do you want to go to talk?"

Michiru hadn't thought that far ahead. "I'm not sure," she confessed, "Wherever you'd like."

Haruka smiled and turned on the engine. She turned the radio on as well as they drove away.

_...And that was the classic tune "Get Wild" by TM Network. And now for the news. Last night around midnight, a large gem was stolen from the Tokyo natural history museum. A man and woman who were out on a date at the time caught a glimpse of the thief, a young man in his late teens to early twenties described as wearing a black Dracula cape, a Zorro mask around his eyes, and a tuxedo and top hat. Baffled police have nicknamed the unusual criminal Tuxedo Kam..._

Michiru ignored the rest of the news as she leaned back in the passenger seat, the wind causing her hair to trail and billow behind her like a flag in a wind tunnel. Looking over to her left, her eyes widened as she realized they were driving on the road right next to the beach, just as she said she'd always wanted to go with Haruka. A group of four seagulls flew over the ocean, and in the distance she could make out a sailboat or two. She looked over to Haruka, the driver's short blonde hair flying in the wind. She didn't turn away from the road to meet Michiru's gaze, but the slightest hint of a smile showed itself on her lips as she hit the accelerator.

They continued on along the beach for a while, the westerly wind carrying the scent of the ocean and causing Michiru to feel nostalgic, but for what she wasn't sure. Suddenly the car turned and headed down a side street. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Haruka smiled wider. "You'll see..."

-0-0-0-

"An arcade?" Michiru asked as she followed her companion.

"It's called 'The Crown.'" Haruka explained. "And we're not here to play at the arcade. Come on, there's a restaurant and ice cream parlor in the back."

Haruka led the way, with Michiru following. The violinist stopped abruptly when she saw something strange out of the corner of her left eye. It was a Sailor V video game. She watched as two girls stood in front of the game, a brunette and a blonde with her hair up in ponytails. The blonde was playing while the other girl, whom Michiru took to be her friend, looked on.

"Wha...! No fair! He just killed me! Naru-chan, do you have any more change on you?"

Michiru was puzzled. Why would a fellow Senshi such as Sailor V promote her existence by allow a video game of herself to be produced. For her part, she'd done all in her power to operate in secret as Sailor Neptune. Then again, Pluto did say her mission was different than Sailor V's.

"Waaaaaah!"

"Okay, stop crying. Here, here's some change."

Michiru turned away and hurried to catch up to Haruka. She saw the racer waiting patiently for her by the entrance to the restaurant. The two went in and found a secluded table near the back. The redheaded waiter who took their order looked somewhat familiar to the violinist, though she couldn't quite place his face. After he left, and making sure no one was around to eavesdrop on them, the two began to talk.

"Okay," Haruka began, "Where should we begin?"

Michiru looked thoughtful. "What would you like to know?"

"I'm not sure. Tell me about your parents."

Michiru was surprised. "Well, it has nothing to do with our mission, but... My mother's name is Aoki. I seldom see her though, not since her third marriage at least. My Father's name is Fujioka, but I last saw him when I was six, right around the time of the divorce. Yours?"

Haruka let out a bit of a sigh. "My mom's name is Masae and my dad's name is Kaname. I last saw them a few months ago, when they disinherited me."

"Disinherited you?" Michiru asked, "Why?"

"Because I cut my hair and stopped pretending to be someone I'm not," Haruka answered. An uncomfortable silence settled in as the blonde looked down at her hands, avoiding Michiru's sympathetic gaze. Finally, she looked back up. "So, care to explain why my friend's brother turned into a monster?"

Michiru sat back in her chair. "There's a group known as the Death Busters," she began, "Who are trying to bring about the end of the world through something called the Great Silence. What it is, or how they plan to accomplish it, I don't know. I know that there are talismans we have to find, and a messiah as well, but not much more. Unfortunately it's like I'm only getting bits and pieces of the big picture, and it feels like trying to piece together an elaborate jigsaw puzzle at times."

Haruka narrowed her eyes as she studied the other girl closely. "There's something you're not telling me."

Michiru nodded her head reluctantly. "You're right, there is. The talismans are hidden within innocent people with pure hearts. In order for us to obtain the talismans the... The owners of the talismans must die."

"Here you are," the waiter interrupted as he brought the two orders over. As he left, Haruka lowered her voice. "Then what you're talking about is..."

"I know," Michiru interrupted, "And I hate it to, but consider the alternative. Every living thing on Earth will be destroyed if we don't. And you've seen yourself that they'll stop at nothing. I wish there was another way too, but..." at that moment, the violinist accidentally knocked over a glass of water the waiter had placed in front of her. It splashed against her, soaking her shirt.

"Here," Haruka said as she shuffled her chair over and reached over with a napkin, "Let me get that." She bent over and began to wipe the water off Michiru's chest. Looking up, she saw her deep blue eyes staring intently at her. She felt warmth welling up within her, and from the blush on the other girl's cheeks she could tell Michiru felt it too. She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the scent of roses. "We... Can't be doing this, can we?"

Michiru took a deep breath and nodded as she leaned towards Haruka, watching the blonde's teal eyes looking back at her longingly. "You're right. We have a mission."

"We can't complicate things," Haruka whispered huskily as she came closer still to the other girl.

"We have to stay focussed," Michiru muttered as her lips brushed against Haruka's, "We..." she was cut off as Haruka's lips pressed against hers, the racer's hands reaching up to frame both sides of her face and entwine her fingers into the artist's aquamarine hair. She reached up as well, cradling the back of the blonde's head as she opened her mouth slightly. Haruka took the cue and deepened the kiss, both girls loosing themselves in the heat of the moment.

-0-0-0-

She hid the professor's box beneath a wooden crate, her own features hidden behind clown makeup and a multi-colored wig. As a large crowd of both adults and children gathered around her on the sidewalk, she stepped up onto the crate.

"Free balloons," Zultan called out, holding out a large bundle of red balloons, each sporting a black five pointed star. "Come get your free balloons!"

-To Be Continued-


	21. Interlude 5

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters, they are all owned by Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude V-

She woke up to find the sun streaming into her apartment's bedroom. She let out a groan as she turned away from the light and pulled the covers back over her head. A soft pounce, followed by light movement behind her, told her she was no longer alone. "G'morning Artemis," she greeted grudgingly, knowing already what was coming.

"Minako-chan, we need to have a serious discussion."

"Artemis," she replied as she reluctantly turned and peered out from within warm protection of her blankets, "Can you keep the lecture short this time so I can get back to sleep soon?"

Artemis huffed indignantly. "Minako, do you remember how long ago we came to England?"

Minako let out a yawn. "Around the end of last October."

"And what day is it today?"

Minako blinked. "Today?"

"It's the second of April," Artemis admonished. "We've been here for nearly six months, Minako-chan. And as far as I can tell, the last member of the Dark Agency here was defeated close to two months ago. So why are we still here in London?"

Minako frowned; it was a rhetorical question, and they both knew it. "You know why, Artemis."

Artemis sighed. "Minako-chan, Katarina-san is an officer in Interpol. She is not some helpless heroine who needs a Senshi for a bodyguard. She can take care of herself. And as for Allan…"

"Don't go there, Artemis."

"Look, you're thirteen. I can understand puppy love..."

"This isn't puppy-love."

"Have the two of you even kissed yet?"

"Well…"

"Minako-chan, he's twenty-two."

"So? According to you, I'm some sort of eternal warrior or something, which would make me thousands of years older than him, right?"

Artemis brought his paw up to his forehead in frustration, "It doesn't work that way."

"And anyways, if we were **sixty**-three and **seventy**-two, no one would think twice about it. And don't forget, the age of consent in Japan is thirteen.

"Minako-chan, we're in **England**!" Artemis exclaimed exasperatedly. Letting out a sigh, he came closer, his voice softer as he tried to reason with her. "Minako-chan, you have a mission. You have to stop the Dark Agency and find their leader. Your friendship with Katrina and your infatuation with Allen have sidetracked you. Maybe it's because so far things have gone relatively easy for you. It's all been a grand adventure thus far, and because of that you've felt secure enough to settle down and make friends. But we're needed elsewhere, Minako-chan. It's time to leave..."

Minako narrowed her eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line. Artemis had no right to talk down to her like she was a baby. She was about to tell him so, when the buzzer to her door rang. Artemis leapt off the bed as Minako got up in her orange pajamas and put on a light cream-colored bathrobe. She looked out the peephole of the door, and in an instant her sour mood vanished. "Katarina!" she exclaimed happily as she opened the door and let her friend in.

"Minako, I'm sorry to wake you like this, but…" she looked around quickly, "Are you alone?"

Minako nodded. "Hai… er, I mean yes," she said, correcting herself as the British agent came in and shut the door. "What's wrong?"

"We got a tip," she said, sitting down as Artemis silently crept up to the officer's leg. "A rather militant faction within the IRA has been using a warehouse out by the wharfs to transport contraband into our country. I've been assigned to investigate."

"I see," Minako said seriously, "Then they don't know you're aware of their activity yet?"

"Well," Katrina said hesitantly, "That's the problem. Our source is a less than reliable Irish Republican Army radical currently behind bars. We've offered a lighter sentence to him in exchange for information. It could be legit, but it could also be a trap. Minako," she said, fixing the thirteen-year-old with her gaze, "Do you think you could help me tonight as Sailor V?"

"**MEOW?"** Artemis practically shrieked in shock. Minako never told the cat that she'd revealed her secret identity to the officer. The Senshi shot Artemis a quick glance before turning her attention back to Katrina.

"Of course I can," she said confidently, flashing a 'V for Victory' sign and a wink as she continued, "After all, you know what they say, 'better safe than to keep the doctor away."

Katrina tilted her head a bit. "Uh, yes, quite. Now then, here's the specifics…"

-0-0-0-

Minako Aino made sure there was nobody around her on the roof of the apartment building as she raised her transformation pen above herself. "Moon Power, Transform!" In a flash of brilliant white light, the blonde transformed into Sailor V. A second later, she leaped from the roof out into the darkness of the London night.

A short distance away, Katrina kept to the shadows. Her Interpol uniform hugging her curves as she crept to a safe spot across the street from the warehouse. A thud behind her startled her, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest as she turned to find Sailor V crouched down behind her. "So," Katrina whispered, breathing a sigh of relief as the Senshi came closer, "How would you suggest we proceed?"

"Let me go in first," Sailor V answered back in a low voice, "To make sure the coast is clear. Once I know it's safe, I can signal for you to follow."

Katrina shook her head. "No way."

"But…"

"These aren't mindless monsters we're talking about, Minako. They're armed terrorists."

"Which is why, with my powers and heightened reflexes, you need to send me in there first. I'll have a better chance of getting out of harm's way should anything go wrong than you would. Katrina," she sad as she put her hand on the officer's shoulder, "I know you think of me as a kid sister. Heck, truth be told, you're like the older sister I never had. But I'm asking you to set that aside for now. You know I'm right about this."

Katarina stared silently at Sailor V for several tense seconds as she seemed to weigh her options. "Very well," she said at last, "You go in first."

They both rushed across the street to the warehouse. Katrina scanned the area around them quickly before she picked the lock on the door. She then turned to her friend and reluctantly nodded for her to go in. Sailor V cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.

Almost immediately the hairs on the back of the Senshi's neck stood on end. There was something very definitely wrong with the scene. The warehouse appeared to be abandoned; there were no arms, no crates of supplies, nothing but a rather noxious odor that was making the young girl suddenly feel light headed. As the sound of her heels striking the floor echoed through the empty warehouse and her eyes slowly became more accustomed to the darkness, she could see a stray bullet or two scattered throughout the floor, the only evidence left of what had once gone on in the building.

The strange smell was getting stronger, and was starting to make her feel nauseous. She was trying to place what it could be, when far in the distance the rear door to the building was opened. She could see a shadowy figure in the doorframe toss something in before turning around and running away as if his life depended on it. The object bounced off the floor with a clang several times before coming to rest not too far from the heroine. In an instant, Sailor V realized two very important things; first, she realized that the object was a hand grenade.

Second, she realized the odor was gasoline.

Outside the building, Katarina likewise heard the clanging sound. "Sailor V?" she called out. "Sailor V, wha…"

**-BOOM!-**

Time seemed to slow down as Katarina found herself blown into the air by the force of the explosion, the deafening sound nearly bursting her eardrums. She landed with a thud, knocking the wind out of her and badly scraping her. Struggling up to all fours, she turned and saw the warehouse engulfed in flames.

"Minako!" she screamed as the faraway sound of sirens could be heard, "**Minako!**"

A short distance away, in the narrow space between a fish cannery and the rental property next to the burning warehouse, Sailor V clutched her left arm close to her in pain. She'd just barely escaped the building before it was engulfed, but in the process she'd injured her arm and was fairly shaken. As she slowly made her way out from between the two buildings, she could see the flashing lights of fire trucks and police cars. She could also see Katarina. The Interpol agent was running up to somebody

"Allan!" Katrina cried out, tears running down her cheeks, "Allan, Minako was… Minako was…"

Allan grabbed her with both hands by her shoulders. Even from a distance, the Senshi could recognize him as _her_ Allan. "What happened to Minako?" he asked

The agent began to cry uncontrollably, pressing her face into his chest. Sailor V was just about to limp out of the shadows to reassure her friends she was still alive, when she saw Allan wrap his arms around Katarina.

"Be strong," he said, "You have me."

The words were like a knife in Minako's heart. The man she loved was in love with her best friend. How long had this been going on? She'd introduced them, they'd had fun together at the amusement park less than a month ago, how could she not have seen this?

Still cradling her arm, she leaned her back against the wall behind her and slid down to the ground as warm bitter tears began to stream down her cheeks.

-0-0-0-

Artemis continued feverishly typing away with his paws at the computer he'd had Minako install in the apartment. Back in Japan, the Sailor V arcade game continued to generate the revenue necessary for him to help Minako pay for the one bedroom dwelling. Unfortunately, he had yet to be able to make contact with a certain black fellow feline guardian through the game. Could she still be waiting to be revived?

Just then the door opened. The cat allowed a gasp to escape as he saw Minako's condition. "Minako-chan! What happened?"

"Can… Can we head back to Japan tomorrow?" she muttured.

Artemis slowly nodded. "Hai," he said softly, "Tomorrow would be fine."

"Good," she whispered before sinking to her knees and once more giving vent to her heartbreak, her lower lip quivering as she wept. Artemis came over and rubbed up against her, hoping to comfort her.

The next day, as Haruka and Michiru entered the Crown, Minako boarded a plane for Japan carrying Artemis in a pet carrier.

-End Fifth Interlude-

End Notes: "Moon Power, Transform!" was Minako's original transformation phrase in the manga "Codename: Sailor V." Also, according to episode 42 of the anime where she related the events of this chapter, Minako left England "…about six months ago." So by placing the explosion at the beginning of April, episode forty-two would then take place around the beginning of October.

Now before anyone jumps on me about "There's not enough time for Usagi to have become Sailor Moon near the beginning of the school year in September and then have forty-two episodes of the anime take place in less than a month of real time," it should be noted that the school year in Japan doesn't begin in September, but in _April._ Thus, Minako returns to Japan just in time for the new school year, and plenty of time is allowed for the events of the first forty-two episodes to take place between the beginning of the Japanese school year and October.


	22. Chapter 17

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

Author's Note: Thank you once again for all the kind reviews and constructive criticism. It means a lot to know you guys are appreciating this story.

-0-0-0-

-XVII-

Time seemed to stand still briefly, as if everyone and everything else in the universe disappeared. There was no Earth, no Tokyo, no mission, no apocalyptic Silence or Talismans or schools or daemons. There was just them, here and now, and there was the warmth shared between them as each gave vent to their longing through their shared kiss.

They finally pulled away from each other, both flushed. Michiru, who'd been unconsciously holding her breath during the kiss, suddenly remembered to breathe. She trembled a bit as she looked around self-consciously, hoping no one else at the Crown saw them. They were near the back, true, but it still made her nervous. As she continued to scan the other young faces, she heard Haruka chuckling. "What's so funny?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"You," Haruka said teasingly. "Look, most people's first impression of me is that I'm a handsome young boy. Even if someone did see us kiss just now, chances are they wouldn't be able to put two and two together."

"Maybe so," Michiru answered, her cheeks still flushed, "But from now on, if we're going to do that, let's wait until we're alone."

Haruka smiled, "Fair enough." She moved a little bit away from Michiru, but kept the artist's hand in hers. "In that case, maybe we should get back to business."

"Yes," Michiru nodded, "We should..." her voice died off suddenly, and she closed her eyes and grimaced.

"Michiru-chan?" Haruka asked out of concern, "What is it? Is it your back?"

"Can't you feel it?" she asked, "Can't you feel the storm swelling."

Haruka tried to focus, but shook her head. "I can sense... something. It feels a bit like rushing wind, but I think it's more tied in to your feelings and anxiety than the original source, if that makes any sense."

"It does, actually," Michiru responded thoughtfully. "You're not as intuitive as I am, or as psychic." Leaning closer, she squeezed the racer's hand. "Something's very wrong, Haruka. We have to leave here. Do you have your henshin wand?"

A few minutes later, Motoki returned to their table to see if they were enjoying their meal. Instead he found both girls gone, the food untouched, and a thousand yen tip (roughly U.S. ten dollars). "Weird," he quipped as he pocketed the tip and went about his business.

-0-0-0-

"You shouldn't even be out here in your condition," Haruka admonished as they hurried down the sidewalk, "You're injured, remember?"

Michiru stopped, her body stiffening a bit as she turned to face the blonde. "We have a mission," she said, looking deep into Haruka's teal green eyes as she continued, "I know we just experienced something very… _intimate_ back at the Crown, but I need you to promise me that for the time being you'll forget about my safety and focus on our mission."

"But…"

"The Silence is coming, Haruka," she said forcefully, "It's coming, and only we can stop it. I need you to promise me you'll focus on that, please?"

Haruka stared back at her a second or two before finally nodding. "Alright, I promise."

Michiru stood still a few seconds longer gazing into Haruka's eyes before turning around and once more heading off in the direction where the waves were calling her. She soon spotted a young boy carrying a red balloon with a black five pointed star on it, the waves crashing in her head almost painfully as she motioned the child over. "That's a neat balloon," she said, bending down to get a better view, "Where did you get it?"

"There's a lady clown on the street corner giving away free balloons," the child answered.

"Michiru," Haruka asked somewhat confused, "What's going on?"

"Street corner?" Michiru asked excitedly as she ignored her fellow Senshi's question, "How far away?"

"About two blocks back that way," he said as he pointed.

"Here," Michiru said as she pulled out her purse and frantically searched it, "Here's enough yen to buy yourself ten balloons if you'll give me your's."

"Ten?" the boy asked in disbelief. "I'll take it! Wow!" he exclaimed as he ran past them down the street. Once he was out of sight, Michiru quickly pulled a safety pin out of her purse and popped the balloon.

Haruka was at a loss. "What on earth did you do that for?"

"It's the Death Buster's insignia," she said, pointing to what was left of the black star. "It…" her voice died out at the star on the popped balloon started to glow. "Duck!" she shouted as she threw it towards a nearby garbage can and dived towards the ground, with Haruka following suit. Almost immediately after falling in the garbage can a bright light emanated from the can for several seconds before it finally let up.

Haruka looked over and noted the pain on Michiru's pain. The action had put strain on her injured back and arm. She got up and held out her hand, "Michiru-chan…"

"Come on," the artist said, taking the offered hand and allowing Haruka to help her up, "We have to destroy the rest of the balloons and stop that clown!"

-0-0-0-

The street had come to a complete dead stop. Men, women and children of all ages lay motionless on the sidewalk as a group of balloons slowly rose up into the sky, their owners no longer holding onto them.

Zultan realized she had a short period of time in which to operate. Even now, shop owners and passing motorists were staring at the prone bodies, wondering at the strange heart crystals they saw floating above each of the victims. Zultan pulled a large blue sack out of her clown costume, intent on reaping the harvest of crystals for her master.

-0-0-0-

Haruka rounded the corner first, keeping out of sight of the witch as Michiru caught up.

"Haruka-chan…" Michiru called.

"Kun."

"Huh?"

"Call me kun."

"Very well, Haruka-kun, do you know how to use your henshin wand?"

"Hai. Actually, someone who already seemed to know of the henshin wand's existence explained it to me."

"Nani?" Michiru asked in surprise. "Someone else knew of it?"

"Hai, a tall woman with long emerald green hair who called herself Setsuna."

"Setsuna," Michiru muttered as she put two and two together, "Yes, I see… Come on," she said as she held her wand aloft, "Let's transform and stop that clown!"

Michiru transformed first. Haruka once more watched the process in amazement as the beautiful young artist transformed again into her Senshi form. She then took her own wand and held it aloft, "Uranus planet power, make-up!"

In Michiru's case, a water spout had formed around her. Haruka, however, found herself in the eye of a whirlwind, her own clothes dissolving as she felt new ones weave around her lithe frame. Her body tingled all over, as if a small current was running through her hitting every nerve at once. A tiara formed on her forehead and the whirlwind finally died.

Sailor Uranus looked down at herself in her Senshi form for the first time, and frowned. "A skirt," she groaned, "Why'd it have to be a skirt?"

-0-0-0-

Zultan began to approach one of the fallen civilians, an elderly woman still clutching her granddaughter's hand. She smiled maniacally as she reached out for the woman's heart crystal.

"Not so fast!"

The witch sneered; the fool had shown up after all. If the bones were telling the truth, Sailor Neptune was severely injured in her last encounter. This would hardly be much of a fight. She began to cackle as she turned to face the girl, intent on making the brat's death a slow and painful one.

Her cackling stopped abruptly.

Sailor Neptune was not alone.

"Guided by a new eon, Sailor Uranus acts with elegance."

"Likewise, guided by a new eon, Sailor Neptune acts with grace."

Zultan's jaw momentarily hung open as she stared at the newcomer in shock. "No," she finally managed to utter, "No, no, no, no, no!" As the two Senshi crouched down ready to fight, the witch quickly ran towards the crate she'd been standing on a few minutes before and pulled it up, revealing the Professor's box.

Sailor Uranus looked over to her right and saw her fellow Senshi tense a bit. Something was coming, something bad. She couldn't sense things psychically like her fellow Senshi could, but she somehow had an empathic link with Sailor Neptune herself. She could sense her moods and her emotional states. And right now, as she looked at the exposed bandaging on the Senshi's arm, she was sensing fear.

A button was pushed, and as the heart crystals returned harmlessly to their owners, smoke started to pour out of the box. "Damn it," Zultan hissed as she turned and ran in the opposite direction, tossing away her wig as she pushed through the crowd of curious spectators watching the event, "Now there's _two _of them!"

Sailor Neptune watched the smoke clear to reveal a metallic woman in a red bathing suit with a white cross on the center of it emerge. It smiled at her and Sailor Uranus, revealing a mouth filled with glistening knife points instead of teeth.

"Swissu," she said as a large knife blade swung out from her wrist to replace her right hand. The other hand was likewise replaced, this time with something that resembled a giant screw-type bottle opener.

Sailor Uranus and Neptune looked at one another briefly, nodded, and then charged at the daemon.

What followed, from Sailor Neptune's perspective at least, was something unique. She wasn't fighting alone this time, but in concert with another. The battle didn't have the same feel as the other fights she'd fought. This wasn't a brawl, it was a _duet_. Somehow, the two seemed to move in perfect concert with one another as if they'd fought side by side thousands of times before. It was as if something had been missing in all her previous battles, and now she knew what it was.

On her end, Sailor Uranus had never fought as a Senshi before, but she did have two things going for her. First, she was a trained martial artist with a black belt in judo. Second, there was the empathic link she felt between herself and Neptune. While she had no idea that it was a part of her awakening, she did realize that it allowed for a certain non-verbal communication between herself and her fellow Senshi, allowing the two to move as one.

The daemon, seeing them coming, ran towards them swinging her blade. Michiru leapt in the air as Haruka rushed forward to meet the attack. As Neptune landed behind the daemon, Haruka grabbed the daemon's knife and twisted, using the youma's own momentum to flip it over onto its back.

"Deep Submerge!"

The daemon had no hope of avoiding the attack, a blood-curdling scream issuing forth from it as it was hit. Sailor Uranus then stepped forward, the blonde seemingly moving on instinct as she raised her hand up into the air. Bright yellow streaks of kinetic energy streamed down from the sky into her upraised hand, which she then directed down towards the ground as she yelled out the phrase Setsuna had taught her, "World Shaking!"

The energy hit the ground like a missile, blasting cement everywhere as it sped forward. It grew and formed itself into a large yellow sphere, complete with a ring surrounding it. It finally left the pavement and rose into the air, shining brightly and terribly before both Senshi's eyes just before it hit the daemon. With a final agonizing cry the creature disappeared, transforming back into a Swiss army knife. A pod then emerged from the knife and crumbled to dust.

Sailor Uranus looked in awe at the devastation she'd just caused. "Holy…"

"Come on," Sailor Neptune said, "There's no time to lose, we have to get out of here." She leapt into the air and away from the onlookers with Sailor Uranus following close behind.

-0-0-0-

"How does it look?" Michiru asked later at Haruka's dorm room as the blonde peeled back some of the bandages to have a peek at her injuries.

"You're not going to believe this," the racer said, "But your scars are almost completely healed."

"Interesting," Michiru said thoughtfully, "I wonder if the act of transforming into Neptune had something to do with it…"

…_And in other news, downtown officials are still baffled by the events of earlier today. It seems somebody put on some sort of performance without asking for permission first, and at least eighteen thousand yen worth of property damage took place. So far none of the TV or movie studios are coming forward to admit responsibility for the debacle, but…_

Haruka turned off the small radio on her bed stand and began to reapply the bandages to Michiru's back. "We should be getting you back to Saint Agatha's soon."

Michiru nodded, then noticed something as she looked closer around the other girl's room. "Haruka-kun, why do you have all these bags of luggage lying around in here?"

Haruka stopped what she was doing. "I'm… Transferring." Noting the look of surprise on Michiru's face, she continued, "I'm transferring to Mugan Academy. I applied long before we met."

Michiru was silent for a bit as she contemplated the answer. "Right," she finally sighed, "Then I guess there's nothing else for me to do than to transfer as well."

Haruka shook her head, "They only take top students…"

"Then I shouldn't have any trouble getting in."

"But you don't have any idea of what the tuition is."

Michiru smiled. "Thanks to my parents money that shouldn't really be too much of a problem."

"The new school year starts shortly, you'll be coming in partway into the semester. You…"

"My mind's made up," she said, coming over and putting a hand up to Haruka's cheek. "After all this time, I've finally found you. And now that I have you, where you go I'll follow."

Haruka didn't know what to say to that. She came closer, putting her own hand over Michiru's as they kissed.

-0-0-0-

"Two of them," Zultan growled as she inhaled from her cigarette, sweat beading on her forehead. "Damn it, there's two of them now!" She grimaced in pain as she held the bandaging closer, the wound still raw and painful. She could already imagine what would happen. Kaolinite had been telling the professor all along that using the Witches Six was a waste of time, and that she should've been given the assignment instead. Now she would press the issue once again.

Eudial meanwhile had been trying to undermine her authority in the Witches Six for months now. It was an obvious power play; if Zultan were discredited, Eudial would then become leader of the group. She hated the smug little bitch, especially after the incident with the snails in her locker that she just knew Eudial had to be behind.

Then there was the Professor. Of all of them, he was the only one Zultan could say she truly feared.

She tossed the cigarette butt into the overflowing ashtray. If she wanted to remain in her position of authority both within the Witches Six and the Death Busters, she had to start producing results quick.

She reached for her botttle of sake, hoping to get drunk. She reasoned that if she were inebriated the pain wouldn't hurt as much. She was about to re-examin the wound when the phone rang. "Witches Six," she grunted out.

"Zultan, you've failed me again, haven't you?"

Zultan grimaced, "Hai, professor-sama, I've failed you. But I've failed you for the last time."

"He, he, I seem to have heard that one before, Zultan."

Zultan took a drink of sake straight from the bottle. "Professor-sama, did you get my package?"

"Hai, I did. I hardly think trying to mend things with gifts will help though."

"Then you haven't opened it yet?"

"No."

"Open it now," she said as she took another drink. On the other end of the line she heard rustling, followed by a gasp.

"Zultan!" Professor Tomoe said, "This... This is a finger!"

"A pinky, actually," Zultan groaned out as she looked down at the bloody bandages on her left hand, "My pinky, to be precise."

There was silence on the other end, followed by loud laughter. "I see," the Professor chuckled, "The yakuza act of reperation for a botched job, eh? Even for you that seems a bit overly dramatic."

"It's more than reperation."

"Oh?"

"It's a pledge," Zultan said maliciously, "The next time those Sailor Senshi and I meet, only one of us will come out of it alive."

-To Be Continued-


	23. Chapter 18

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XVIII-

Sister Claire wiped a bit of perspiration from her forehead as she stepped out of the consulate and out onto the sidewalk. She'd spent the last hour and a half in the bishop's office, and after the meeting the nun felt drained. She turned to her left and headed towards the bus stop. After having argued with her bishop until she was red in the face, she just wanted to get back to her greenhouse and relax with a cup of tea.

"Get the cat!"

"Yeah!"

A black cat rushed past the nun, followed by three young boys chasing it. They cornered the poor animal and began teasing it mercilessly.

"Hey cat, bark!"

Sister Claire frowned. Forgetting about her bus, she started to head over to chase the kids away from the poor cat, but she stopped when she saw someone else running towards them from a different direction.

"Hey!" the newcomer, a girl with long golden ponytails, yelled angrily at the three hoodlums, "Stop it!"

The three boys ran away, and the girl began to tend to the poor feline. Sister Claire was going to offer her assistance, but suddenly remembered her bus. She turned away just as the girl was peeling away a band aid someone had stuck on the cat's forehead to reveal a strange crescent-shaped patch of yellow fur. The nun made it to the bus stop just in time, and found a seat near the middle of the bus next to the window.

Half an hour later, Sister Claire arrived back on campus and headed wearily back to her greenhouse. She smiled as she saw a familiar face waiting for her. "Konichi-wa, Michiru-chan. Shouldn't you be in classes?"

Michiru looked up from her canvas and smiled politely. She was painting a still life of some flowers she'd arranged on a small table. "Konichi-wa, Claire-sama. Actually, I've been given the day off to collect my things."

"Oh?" Claire asked as she sat down nearby, "And why do you have to collect your things? You're not being expelled, are you?"

Michiru smirked. "Hardly. I've transferred to another school, the Mugen Academy."

"Mugen?" the nun asked, "I think I've heard of them. They're very selective about the students they accept, but then with your grades I doubt you would've had much trouble getting in. Do you think you'll run into any trouble transferring this late in the semester?"

Michiru put her easel and brush down next to her and turned to give her attention more fully to the nun. "I don't think so. I'll grant you that transferring in the middle of May will take a bit of adjustment at first, but luckily I already have a friend waiting for me there."

Sister Claire smiled at that, "Good for you." Her smile faded a bit as she turned away, her eyes scanning the familiar plants within her greenhouse. "It seems as if today's the day for such news."

Michiru noted the sad tone in the nun's voice. "Claire-sama?"

Sister Claire took a deep breath. "I first entered the novitiate as a young college graduate back in nineteen seventy. The Second Vatican Council was still a very recent memory, and it was a time of change both within and without the church. I was full of grand ideas and dreams… Heh, what did I know?" she asked rhetorically with a wave of her hand. Looking back over to Michiru, she smiled sadly. "I met with the bishop today, Michiru-chan. I'm leaving the order."

Michiru's eyes widened. "You mean, you're no longer going to be a nun?" Sister Claire slowly nodded. "But… Why would the bishop expel you?"

"He didn't, Michiru-chan. I asked to leave."

"Have you told Principal Ichi yet?"

"Not yet, but then I hardly think she'll be broken hearted about it." She noticed Michiru's look and chuckled a bit. "I guess that wasn't very charitable of me to say, was it? Come," she said as she stood up, "Let's toast both our departures with a bit of tea."

"Claire-sama," Michiru asked as she followed behind the nun, "If you're leaving the convent and your consecrated life behind, where will you go?"

"Oh, I don't know," she answered, "The Anglican Church in America allows for women's ordinations, and it looks like the Church of England may be holding a synod on the issue later this year, so I'm hopeful," she said as she set the kettle on the stove.

After spending most of the morning with the nun and finally saying goodbye, Michiru left the greenhouse. Of all the nuns and administrators, she realized with a heavy heart that she would miss Sister Claire the most. She headed back to her dorm room where she already had most of her stuff packed. It was a Thursday. She would have today off from classes to finish packing and tomorrow through Sunday to move into her new residence and prepare for her first day of classes at Mugan on Monday. Looking around at the luggage and boxes scattered around her, she began to feel a bit melancholy about leaving. She took out her violin and began to play something that fit her mood. She heard the door open and looked up to see Takayo enter the room.

"So, it's official," the redhead said, "You're really leaving."

Michiru sighed. "Hai," she said as she packed the violin back into its mahogany case, "I'm transferring."

Takayo came over and sat on the bed next to her. "It's not going to feel the same without you, you know. Sure you could be a bit aloof and all, but I'm still going to miss you."

Michiru smiled. "Thanks. I think I'm going to miss you too Takayo-chan."

Takayo smiled back as the two roommates shared one of their last moments together. The redhead then looked at her watch. "They're serving dinner soon. Want to join me in the cafeteria for a last supper before you leave our school's hallowed grounds?"

A few minutes later, Michiru found herself one last time sitting in her usual spot at the popular table. She was more reserved than usual today, and soon after her fellow students wished her good luck and fond farewell they descending back into their usual conversations.

"…So by the time you get to 'Comfortably Numb,' Pink has totally cut himself off from the world around him, completely hidden behind his 'Wall'."

"Miki," one of the girls at the table interrupted, "Why can't you just talk about J-Pop groups like the rest of us?"

"Don't look now," another girl said, "But the newly elected Student Council President just entered the cafeteria."

Michiru shrank a bit in her chair as everyone turned to watch her former sempai and the new Student Body President Miyuki Asami enter the cafeteria, a group of fellow Student Council members in tow. Trailing closely behind Miyuki was her new freshman she was mentoring, Keiko Kitagawa, carrying her onee-sama's tray.

As the group went to the table reserved for them and sat, Miyuki looked over. Michiru met the other's gaze, both girls silently communicating things they wish they'd said and things they wish hadn't been said through their eyes before Miyuki finally turned away.

Michiru watched her old sempai for a few seconds longer before returning to her meal. As she drank from her milk carton, the young novice Sister Maria came into the cafeteria and walked over to Michiru's table. "Kaioh-san?"

Michiru nodded, "Hai."

"Kaioh-san, coming with me to please will you."

Some of the girls at the table began to snicker. Sister Maria was a novice from France, and she had yet to completely learn the Japanese language. Her broken Japanese had thus come to be quite the source of amusement for many of the girls at Saint Agatha's Academy. Far from being offended though, the young novice seemed to accept the gentle ribbing good naturedly.

Michiru looked perturbed as she rose from her seat and followed the novice into the office, wondering to herself if she might've broken some infraction without knowing it on her final day. Once in the office, however, Sister Maria ushered her to a desk near the back corner of the office. "Phone," she said, pointing to the blinking light on the phone indicating someone was on hold.

"A phone call?" Michiru asked, "Do you know who it is?"

"Cousin," Sister Maria answered as she handed the girl the phone and wandered off.

Once the novice had left the office Michiru pushed the hold button, "Moshi moshi?"

"Michiru-chan?"

"Ruka-kun? Why on earth did you tell Sister Maria you were my cousin?"

"I thought it would be less suspicious. Are you alone right now?"

"Hai."

"Good. How soon before you could change into Sailor Neptune and meet me on the roof of the Todaimae Mall?"

"Sailor Neptune?" Michiru asked in a hushed tone as she quickly looked around to reassure herself she was alone, "Maybe an hour and a half. Why? What's going on?"

"Michiru-chan, there's… There's something here you need to see for yourself."

There was something in Haruka's voice that was unsettling to Michiru. "Very well. You said the Todaimae Mall?"

"Hai. I'll meet you there in an hour and a half. Sayonara."

"Sayonara, Ruka-kun," Michiru answered as she hung up the phone on her end. She frowned as she left the office and hurried to her dorm room to take care of some last minute details before the move began tomorrow.

An hour and a half later, Sailor Neptune landed on the roof of the Todaimae Mall to find Sailor Uranus already waiting for her. "Alright, I'm here," she said as she walked over to the blonde, "What's wrong?"

"That," Uranus said as she pointed to a neon-lighted billboard across the street from them. Sailor Neptune allowed a gasp to escape as she saw a giant image of Zultan in a bikini sitting on a raft in the middle of the ocean. She was casting a bottle into the ocean. The bottle was a prop made of real glass, and there was what appeared to be a large note inside.

"I cast my message in a bottle," bright neon letters proclaimed, "Hoping that Sailor Neptune hears my call." Underneath the image was a brief ad for swimwear, but it was clear to Neptune that the message was really for her.

"Michiru-chan," Sailor Uranus began, "From the way you described her without the clown makeup…"

"Hai, that's Zultan," Neptune answered, her eyes focused on the rolled-up message in the bottle. She closed her eyes and stretched out her consciousness. "Be on your guard," she warned, "Something's not right." With that, Sailor Neptune ran and leapt off the roof over to the billboard with Sailor Uranus following close behind. At the bottom of the billboard was a piece of scaffolding large enough for the two Senshi to land on.

The bottle was almost as long as Neptune. She carefully reached into the giant prop and pulled out the message written with a magic marker on poster board.

-0-0-0-

_So, you managed to get my message. Congratulations._

_As you now know, I can and will turn normal human  
__beings into daemons. Tonight, at midnight, I plan to do  
__much more. I'm going to dump hundreds of thousands  
__of my little pods into the city's water supply. All of Tokyo  
__will be populated by monsters._

_That is, unless you can stop me._

_Tonight. Midnight. The Tokyo Water Treatment Center._

_Oh, and bring your new friend along. I'm sure she'd like  
__to try and stop me too._

_P.S. There is a small sensor inside this bottle connected to  
__an explosive detonator. The sensor was tripped when you  
__first stuck your hand in the bottle, and by the time you're  
__done reading this message-_

_-0-0-0-_

"Haruka, run!" Neptune screamed as she grabbed Uranus' wrist and both Senshi leaped off the billboard before it exploded in a huge fireball, shattering windows in surrounding buildings and leveling a nearby newsstand. As alarms rang out, Neptune looked over to see Uranus staring at the wreckage as if transfixed. "Ruka-kun?"

"I understand now," she whispered. "For the longest time, I couldn't understand how you could have accepted this mission and all that goes with it so easily. But this…" She turned to face Neptune, a determined expression etched in her teal eyes. "They have to be stopped. No matter the sacrifice, we have to stop them."

Sailor Neptune brought her hand up to cradle the side of Uranus' face and stroked her cheek with her thumb. "We will, Haruka," she said softly, "We will." She turned away from the blonde as she looked off into the distance of the city. "The Tokyo Water Treatment Center is on the other side of the city. If we're going to get there in time we'll have to hurry."

Sailor Uranus grinned cockily at that. "That shouldn't be a problem on my end. Think you can keep up?"

Neptune smirked as she raised a finely arched eyebrow at the challenge. Without another word both Senshi rushed off from rooftop to rooftop on their way to the water plant. Above them, the full moon peeped out from behind a cloud, lighting their way towards their showdown with Zultan.

-To Be Continued-


	24. Chapter 19

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XIX-

When she was just starting to run, Haruka ran the hurdles against three classmates. Five hurdles in, she heard an awful sounding crack behind her, followed by the coach's whistle stopping the race. She turned around to see that one of the girls had caught her foot on the hurdle, tripped, and fallen face first to the track. The girl's lip was split open and her nose was broken. Haruka watched, shaken, as the nurse was called out to attend to her, the girl lying completely motionless after having been knocked out. When she finally did come to, she began to cry uncontrollably in pain as she wept for her mama.

She hadn't thought of the event in a long time, the memory slowly fading over time. The sight in front of her, however, strangely reminded her a bit of that scene.

A security guard lay motionless on the ground next to his post outside the water treatment center. He was face down, and completely motionless, just as her classmate had been. Uranus' heart began to thump in her chest as she slowly stepped over and knelt down, putting a gloved hand to the guard's neck. She'd never actually seen a dead person up close before, and while she hoped that somehow she was wrong she had a sinking feeling that the witch had killed him.

Just as Sailor Uranus felt a pulse the guard let out a groan. The Senshi breathed out a sigh of relief as she carefully turned him over, revealing a scorch mark on the front of his uniform where his heart crystal had been extracted.

Neptune meanwhile had found a large hole in the chain link fence around the water plant, and a very familiar white car with black star decal parked outside the main facility. As she came closer to the fence, she sensed something was off. Picking up a nearby stick, she tossed it at the fence. The stick struck the fence, setting off sparks in the air before landing on the ground singed. She made a mental note of the fact that the fence was electrified as she turned and walked over to Uranus, placing a hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Ruka," she whispered softly.

Sailor Uranus reached up and put her own hand over Neptune's. Their fingers intertwined as the blonde silently looked up. "How long will he last like this?"

Neptune knelt down next to her. "Four, maybe four and a half hours at the most." She looked back over to the hole in the fence. Security lights shone down all around the plant's perimeter except for the area they now found themselves in, almost as a silent warning of what lay ahead. "Ruka, are you ready for this?"

Uranus stood up and nodded. Sailor Neptune led the way through the hole in the chain link fence. Once past the fence, they walked side by side towards the main facility. Both Senshi reached for the other's hand, seeking courage from each other.

-0-0-0-

The men and women of the Tokyo Water Treatment Center lay like logs of wood around her as she gathered the last of the crystals into her sack. Ash fell from the tip of the cigarette she held clenched between her lips as she checked her watch again. It was five minutes to midnight and the two bitches had yet to show up. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. Opening it, she gulped the rest of its contents down.

"Guided by a new eon, Sailor Uranus acts with elegance."

"Likewise, guided by a new eon, Sailor Neptune acts with grace."

Zultan smiled gleefully as she tossed the whisky bottle over her shoulder, hearing it shatter behind her. The two Senshi stood in front of her, directly in front of one of the larger drums used in the filtration process. "I was wondering when you two were going to get here."

"Where are the pods?" Sailor Neptune demanded.

"Pods?" Zultan asked with a chuckle, "What pods?"

"You know what pods!" Sailor Uranus growled, "The ones you threatened to infect Tokyo with!"

"Oh, _those_ pods," Zultan laughed. "Why, there all in here," she said as she pointed to the side of her head, "You see, I made them all up."

Neptune narrowed her eyes as she glared angrily at the witch. "You what?"

"I'm sorry," Zultan cackled, "But do you have any idea how funny the two of you look when you get mad? You make it hard for me to keep a straight face?"

Neptune suddenly felt a storm surge within her being as Zultan continued to laugh. Uranus meanwhile had balled her hands up into fists. "If you think we're funny now," she said in a low tone, "You're going to find what we do to you damn near hysterical."

"Oh?" Zultan asked, "Thinking of using one of our attacks, are we? I shouldn't think so, not with all these water tanks and high pressure valves all around us. One badly aimed 'deep submerge' and either we're inundated with twelve thousand gallons of water within ten seconds or we blow up the facility. And while the three of us may stand a small chance of getting out in time, I'm not so sure about them," she said, indicating the men and women lying unconscious behind her.

Uranus gritted her teeth. "Damn."

"Uranus, be careful," Neptune warned, "I can sense she's hiding something."

"But to get back on topic," Zultan continued, "No, I don't have enough pods to contaminate all of Tokyo. I only have these two," she said as she pulled two of the Professor's pods out of her jacket pockets. She began to juggle them as she fixed her eyes on Sailor Neptune. "You've been a thorn in my side for months now," she hissed, a look of pure hatred replacing the witch's earlier bemusement. "It ends now, one way or another." Before either Senshi had time to react, she stopped juggling and brought both pods up to her mouth.

Neptune's eyes widened in horror, "No!"

"Blech, these really do taste like shit." Zultan groused as she swallowed down the last of the pods. The witch abruptly clutched her abdomen and let our an ear-splitting scream as she doubled over in pain. She began to shake uncontrollably, her mouth foaming up as she looked one last time at Sailor Neptune. "I'll see you in **hell!**" she shrieked as her back began to bulge, the sound of cracking and popping filling the air as blood-red tentacles pushed their way out of her back. They began to wave wildly in the air as the witch's eyes rolled back and two more tentacles slithered out of her mouth. Blood began oozing from her ears and nose as she sank to her knees, her arms outstretched. Her neck began to elongate and her chest and abdomen expanded until, with a final ripping sound, her neck severed and her chest burst. Like a moth emerging from its chrysalis, Zultan's former body was discarded and left behind as a tentacled daemon emerged, covered in the blood and gore of its former body and with a single beak-like mouth near the center.

Two of its tentacles shot outward towards Sailors Uranus and Neptune. Both Senshi managed to leap out of the way just in time, but the daemon did manage to grab hold of a wooden chair which it pulled back towards itself, biting it in half with its beak.

"What do we do?" Sailor Uranus asked, "We can't attack it here."

Neptune nodded. "We need to lure it out of the building."

Uranus looked around quickly as the thing began to move itself closer to them. She saw a clear area between two large tanks. "World shaking!" she yelled, sending her attack barreling between the tanks and into the brick wall behind it, leading to the outside. "You want us?" she yelled at the daemon as both she and Sailor Neptune raced for the opening, "Come and get us!"

The thing gave out a screech as it stretched out with its tentacles and grabbed onto any stationary objects it could find in order to pull itself forward. Slowly, one of its tentacles began to bulge at its tip, transforming itself into a primitive eye in order to see where it was going. Once outside the building, it saw its hated rival Neptune standing beneath a security light staring back at it, her arms crossed and her eyes defiant.

"Look at yourself, Zultan," she said. "Look at what you've done."

The daemon screeched once more as it continued to creep forward.

"Was it worth it, Zultan?" Neptune continued, "Has any of this been worth it?"

The thing answered by shooting out its tentacles at the Senshi. Sailor Neptune leaped backwards, doing a flip in the air before landing just out of reach. "Now Uranus!"

The daemon realized too late that it had been so focused on the hated green-haired bitch in front of it that it had forgotten completely about the other Senshi.

"World shaking!"

Sailor Uranus focused all she had on the attack. Searing pain shot through the daemon, causing it to let out a pained scream as it staggered from the attack.

Neptune saw her opening, "Deep submerge!"

The force of Sailor Neptune's attack sent it hurtling directly into the electrified fence. Both Senshi watched as her water attack combined with the electric fence, the daemon shaking uncontrollably as its tentacles became entangled in the fence's wire mesh. Smoke began to rise up from its body as the thing that had once been Zultan let out a final agonized cry before disintegrating before their eyes into a tar black puddle of goo. Two pods slowly rose up from the puddle, only to crack open and turn to dust.

Uranus, slightly shaken, turned to Michiru. "We have to go back in the plant."

Neptune nodded. "Hai. We have to get the heart crystals, see if any of them were talismans, and return the rest to their owners."

As they began to head back into the building, Uranus turned to Neptune. "Does it get easier?"

Neptune turned and looked into Uranus teal eyes. For the first time, they had actually been forced to take a life. This hadn't been an inanimate object brought to life like in the past. It had been a human being, an enemy maybe but still human. Sooner or later they would find the keepers of the talismans and would be forced to do so again.

"No," Neptune finally answered, putting her arm around Uranus' shoulders. "But eventually you learn to live with it."

-0-0-0-

From her Time Gate, Pluto watched the two weary Senshi enter back into the water treatment center. With a wave of her staff, the image faded. Police who would later arrive on the scene would stumble upon the ghastly remains of Zultan's body left behind after she transformed into a Daemon. They would note the stump where the witch had severed her own pinky and would chalk the whole thing up to an unusually grizzly yakuza hit.

Pluto had more pressing issues to deal with though. Earlier today a young fourteen year old blonde girl, considered clumsy and a crybaby by most of her peers, had encountered a talking cat and ushered in the new age. The same event had repeated itself across a hundred different timelines and alternate realities (viewing one of them from her Time Gate, Pluto saw a young South African girl who would one day become queen and ruler of Crystal Cape Town). The new eon that guided Uranus and Neptune had begun today, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Pluto was the Guardian of the Time Gate, a post Queen Serenity had ordered her not to leave or abandon and one which she had left several times these past few months. It was time for her to pull back from her old friends Neptune and Uranus once more. They had their mission, and she had hers. The future was always changing, and time was in a constant state of flux. If Crystal Tokyo was to become reality she would have to do what she could from here, once more behind the scenes.

Pluto had managed to find and awaken Sailor Neptune and, through Neptune, Sailor Uranus had awoken as well. She had kept her promise; the two were reunited in the present. A smile slowly teased Pluto's lips. Perhaps Serenity hadn't needed a third cat after all.

-To Be Continued-


	25. Interlude 6

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-Interlude VI-

Naru Osaka looked once more up at the posted National Mock Exam Ranking Results. She saw her name, and sighed. She had a long, hard road ahead of her if she was going to pass the actual entrance exam with a high enough grade to get into a good senior high. Not as long or as hard as her best friend Usagi, but hard enough. Her eyes traveled up on the posted results until they came to rest at the name at the top.

Ami Mizuno.

She could still remember the conversation yesterday, about how Mizuno's score was the best not just in Juban Junior High but in the entire country. Umino said that the girl's I.Q was rumored to be near three hundred, and another girl overhearing the conversation mentioned how she went downtown every day to a special cram school and how her mother was a doctor. The girl went on to say that Mizuno had a bad attitude though, and that she thought she was better than everyone else. Naru hated people like that.

She could hear the traffic in the hallway dying down. The last thing she wanted to do was daydream her way into getting caught standing in the halls after the second bell, especially when next period was lunch. She hurried down the corridor and made it to the back of the cafeteria line. Just before the second bell rang a second set of steps could be heard behind her. She turned around to see who was behind her, and frowned. Sure enough, it was Ami Mizuno. Naru rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she was jealous mind you (at least, she wasn't about to admit that was it), she just didn't like having to be so close to Little Mrs. I'm-better-than-everyone.

Naru got her food and quickly left Ami behind as she took her tray over to a very familiar table. A pair of baby-blue eyes and a huge grin met her. "Naru-chan," Usagi asked, "What took you so long?"

"I just kind of lost track of time," Naru said as she set her tray down and sat across from her best friend. "Oh, Usagi-chan, you'll never guess who was in line behind me."

Usagi was about to ask who when she saw someone entering the cafeteria with her lunch tray, "Ami-chan!"

Naru blinked as she watched her best friend wave over to someone. Her eyes followed in the direction Usagi was waving and, with a shock, realized she was calling Mizuno over. The blue-haired genius herself seemed a bit shocked as well, her face turning bright red as Usagi stood up and called her name louder, causing others to look over. The girl quickly hurried over and sat next to Usagi in the seat the blonde had been saving for her.

Naru's jaw hung open in shock. Ami, for her part, put her hand up to her face as she tried to hide the fact that she was still blushing feverishly. Usagi, blissfully unaware of both Naru's shock and Ami's embarrassment, turned back to her best friend. "I'm sorry Naru-chan, who did you say was in line behind you?"

Naru was at a loss as to what to say. She looked over at Ami and saw that she was awkwardly picking at the food on her tray. "Oh, nobody," she finally muttered.

Usagi tilted her head a bit at that before shrugging her shoulders and turning to Ami. "Ami-chan, did you have fun yesterday at the arcade?"

Ami looked nervously up at Naru, then to Usagi. "Hai."

Usagi smiled and turned from Ami to Naru with a sort of expectant look in her eyes.

Naru meanwhile was searching her brain as she tried to figure out why in the world Usagi would want anything to do with Ami Mizuno. She struggled as she tried to think of something the three of them could talk about. "So, um… Ami-san, I hear that the cram school you went to had some sort of disturbance yesterday."

Ami nodded, "Hai."

Naru's left eye began to twitch. One word answers, terrific. "Well, exactly what happened?"

Usagi suddenly choked on her milk. "Wha… *cough* What happened?" The incident Naru was referring to was of course the youma battle that took place in Ami's class. It was also the incident that alerted both her and Luna to the fact that Ami was in fact a fellow Senshi, Sailor Mercury. She began to rack her brain for a rational story that wouldn't involve monsters or browbeating talking cats.

"Oh that?" Ami responded quickly, "Well some practical joker snuck a stink bomb into the computer class I was in, and somehow it shorted out all the computers in the school."

Usagi's eyes widened. "Wow, she's good…"

Naru looked over at Usagi, "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Usagi said sheepishly.

An uncomfortable silence fell upon the table. Usagi looked from Ami to Naru and back, frowned a bit, then suddenly broke the silence with an awkward laugh. "Naru-chan, did you read that manga I loaned you yet? Isn't it hilarious?"

Naru chuckled a bit half-heartedly. "Yeah, funny."

"You have to read it, Ami-chan," Usagi giggled, "there's this guy who's cursed, and whenever he gets splashed with cold water he turns into a…"

"Usagi-chan," Ami said as she glanced once more in Naru's direction, "Maybe I should let the two of you talk, ne? I'll go sit over by the window."

"Don't be silly, Ami-chan. I called you over because you're my friend too now."

"Now?" Naru asked.

"I… I know, but I just feel… Well, like I don't fit in..."

"Wait a minute," Naru interrupted, "Ami-san, just how long have you and Usagi been friends?"

Ami turned to Naru. "Since yesterday," she replied a bit awkwardly.

Naru smiled as she shook her head, "Only been friends for a day, and Usagi-chan's already embarrassing you in public by yelling your name out in the middle of the lunch room? That's her all right," she said with a laugh. "She's always doing stuff like that. Has she told you yet about what she once did to me at a karaoke club?"

Ami relaxed a bit. "No, she didn't."

"We were supposed to sing a duet, but there was only one microphone. Usagi started pushing me away and trying to grab the mike..."

"Hey!" Usagi yelled, "You pushed **me** out of the way!"

"Whatever. Anyways, long story short, we're banned from the karaoke place for another six months."

"Because **you** wouldn't give up the mike!"

"Because it wasn't **your **turn!"

As the two girls began to bicker, Ami started to chuckle despite herself. For her part, Naru began to soften towards the newcomer. The girl, it turned out, wasn't a snob after all; she was just _shy_. Naru told several more embarrassing stories about her best friend and herself. Near the end of the lunch period Ami herself began to open up, telling a humorous story of how she'd once tried to give herself a haircut in kindergarten with a pair of safety scissors.

Finally, the period bell rang. As the three girls got up from their seats to head back to class, Usagi turned to Ami. "Ami-chan, you're going to sit with us again tomorrow, aren't you?"

Ami glanced cautiously over to Naru, "Well…"

"Of course she is," Naru spoke up, "After all, I have yet to tell her the story about how you got Play-Doh stuck in your hair back in fifth grade."

"Hey!" Usagi yelled, causing Ami to once more giggle good naturedly. Outside the cafeteria, the blonde watched as her best friend and Ami walked off down the hall together and smiled. Ami was a friend now, and it was important to her that Naru accept her. After all, between battling youma, putting up with an acerbic cat and trying to choose between Motoki and Tuxedo Kamen, she already had enough to worry about. And while it looked a bit uncertain at first, Ami eventually came out of her shell a bit and Naru warmed up at least a little toward her.

Yep, Usagi thought proudly, it looked like everything was going to work out just fine. She smiled smugly as she then decided that it would be a good idea to maybe take Ami out window shopping, show the girl what a good time was and…

-Ding-

The second bell brought the blonde out of her reverie. "Wah! I'm late for class again!" Usagi cried as she ran down the hall, late once again for her teacher Haruna Sakurada's class.

-End Sixth Interlude-


	26. Chapter 20

-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeushi, Toei and Kodansha.

-0-0-0-

-XX-

Near the end of May, Usagi and Luna encountered a young miko named Rei Hino, and Sailor Mars was found. Almost a month later, a new girl at Usagi's school by the name of Makoto Kino was shown to be yet another Senshi, Sailor Jupiter. It was around the time of Jupiter's awakening that the Doom Tree Makaiju and its two inhabitants Ail and Ann passed Pluto as it entered the solar system.

Sailor V, meanwhile, had slowly fallen for an idol by the name of Ace Kaitou. Around the first of August, however, it was revealed that he was secretly Danburite, the head of the Dark Agency. Worse, the Dark Agency itself turned out to be a radical offshoot of the Dark Kingdom itself. During their final rooftop battle, Ace revealed that during the Silver Millennium he was a lowly servant by the name of Adonis who had fallen in love with Princess Venus, but that his love wasn't reciprocated.

As Sailor V defeated Ace, his footing gave way and he slipped off the roof. "My path ends," he said as he fell, "Without ever reaching you... That is my fate..."

Sailor V lunged forward and managed to grab his hand. The effort nearly jerked her shoulder out of socket as he dangled from the rooftop. "Is it your fate to defeat the ones I fall in love with yourself?" she gasped in pain.

Ace looked up at her, a vacant look in his eyes. With his free hand, he tossed up a playing card to her. The card landed next to her. She looked at it questioningly.

"The Ace of hearts?" she asked. Ace had a talent for telling love fortunes with playing cards, especially with the Aces of the various suits. As she looked at the card however, it slowly tore apart and crumbled before her eyes.

"I'll tell your final love fortune," he said weakly, a malevolent smile forming at the corners of his lips, "Your love will be hopeless for all eternity."

She stared at him wide eyed. With his last remaining strength, Ace had cursed her.

"What's wrong?" he continued, his body slowly beginning to disintegrate as Sailor V struggled to hold onto him. "You should look happier. Now you can go on living, without having to torment yourself over the ultimate choice, your love or your duty. Your fate is to continue fighting. Your true battle begins now..." His voice faded away as he completely crumbled to dust before Sailor V's eyes.

Artemis had been watching the battle from nearby. As soft sobs shook Sailor V's body, he cautiously approached her. "Mina..."

"My self before now has all been before awakening," she whispered, "A temporary form, for my true mission."

Artemis was silent. For so long, Minako had treated being Sailor V as some sort of a game, even as a chance at stardom. It had taken both the incident in England and now Ace Kaitou's curse to finally force the girl to understand the stakes involved. Artemis found no pleasure in seeing his charge in pain, however. As Sailor V rose to her knees and looked out over the edge of the building, Artemis wished that there had been another way.

"I must search for my precious allies," she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, "They're in Tokyo. I feel it. Perhaps I am awakening now."

Artemis was unsure what to say to that. "Hai," he finally answered softly.

"Together, we will defeat the Dark Kingdom and protect this planet!" she declared, standing to her feet and clenching her fist, She then turned to Artemis, fixing him with a determined stare as she continued. "Then, we must find that most precious person. That is why I was born."

Artemis nodded. They would indeed join the other Sailor Senshi and find that most precious person, the Princess. Less than a week later Sailor V, now Sailor Venus, had joined the others.

Around the beginning of September, Tuxedo Kamen was kidnapped by the Dark Kingdom and brainwashed into becoming an agent of the enemy. As Queen Beryl gloated in triumph, one and a half light years away the injured Princess Kakyuu traveled from her planet Kinmoku in search of asylum from Sailor Galaxia. Her guardians, the Sailor Starlights, followed her trail throughout the vast emptiness of space as they desperately looked for her. The trail would eventually lead the three to a small blue planet orbiting a medium sized yellow star near the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy known as Earth.

As September gave way to October and the final battle with Queen Beryl was approaching, Michiru and Haruka continued on as before. They were aware of the existence of the other Senshi of course, but they kept their distance. The Inner Senshi had their mission to fulfill, and Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus had theirs.

They continued to fight the Death Busters in the shadows, their very existence kept secret even as Sailor Moon and the others became household names. Haruka and Michiru had seen first the Sailor V video games and dolls, followed by Sailor Moon lunch boxes and coloring books. It served to further separate the two from the others though, causing an unspoken rift to form between the serious older Senshi and the seemingly lackadaisical younger ones.

Between the two of them they were able to afford a nice rental property off-campus, complete with an indoor pool. Haruka walked into the pool area wearing a loose-fitting tank top and white track shorts. She carried a large brown towel, and as she watched Michiru swimming laps in her sleek one-piece dark blue swim suit she couldn't help but glance as the swimmer's back. The scars from the battle she'd fought back when Hironari's brother Goseki had been turned into a daemon were almost completely gone now save for a few faint lines still visible if one knew where to look.

Michiru reached the end of the pool and climbed out. Haruka came over and wrapped the towel around her, using it as an opportunity to envelop the swimmer in her arms. Michiru turned around and stroked the side of Haruka's face with the palm of her hand. the racer closed her eyes and leaned her head into the hand, when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her earlobe.

"Ow!" Haruka shouted as Michiru tugged on her earlobe, "Wha..."

"That'll teach you to flirt with other girls," the artist said with a smirk.

"Michiru, we've already been through this," Haruka said, the two far too close now to bother with honorifics. "I was just ordering a coffee..."

"Since when has winking at the waitress been part of the ordering process?"

Haruka shrugged. "Just habit I guess," she offered with a roguish grin.

Michiru rolled her eyes, "Just make sure you look and don't touch." Draping the towel over her wet locks, she took on a more serious air. "Did the map help?"

Haruka shook her head. "No. I went over the map, marking where the last few battles have taken place, but I can't find any sort of pattern so far."

The artist frowned as she crossed her arms thoughtfully. "This new Death Buster, Kaolinite, isn't acting at all like Zultan did. She disappears from the scene after releasing her daemon rather than sticking around like the witch did. And before the attacks would be separated by a month or two, now they're separated by only a few days to a week. Why the increase?" she asked.

-0-0-0-

The next morning, the sun was just rising over the eastern horizon. Kaolinite walked silently into the bedroom, shaking her head in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

Hotaru ignored her as she continued to look out. Her friend no longer jogged past her window anymore. Why?

"Every morning you get up, and every morning you come downstairs more depressed than before."

Hotaru sighed heavily. She tried to ignore Kaolinite's comments as she put her hand up to the window, closing her eyes as she fought the urge to give into despair.

"What did you expect, that someday you'd be able to go out jogging too? What did I tell you about hopes and dreams?"

Hotaru began to tremble, her sadness giving way to something new as she grit her teeth. Opening her eyes, the only emotion she felt was a cold venomous anger.

"Did you expect you'd someday meet the jogger, maybe even become friends? Did you expect..."

"I expect pure heart crystals," she said, turning around to face Kaolinite. Her eyes glowed an unholy color as the stuffed animals behind her were suddenly cast into ominous shadows.

Kaolinite's eyes widened. "But... But I..."

"Pure heart crystals, not excuses," Hotaru ordered, "You can save those for Professor Tomoe."

Kaolinite swallowed hard as she nodded and quickly left the room. Alone once more, Hotaru's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she sank to the floor. She brought her hands up to her head, a whimper escaping as a migrane struck. Looking around, the last thing she could remember was Kaolinite coming into her room. She hated the blackouts. She got up and went downstairs to make sure nothing bad happened this time...

-0-0-0-

-Epilogue-

-Six Months Later-

Michiru had been fighting as Sailor Neptune for a year and a half now, and for a little more than a year Sailor Uranus had been by her side. Both were weary and frustrated. They had yet to find the Messiah who would be able to stem the tide of the coming Silence. They also had yet to locate any of the talismans needed for the Grail. The last few months since Kaolinite had taken over seemed to be a never ending series of battles with no end in sight and seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel.

Haruka, for all her bravado, seemed to be the most dispirited of the two. Even after all the months that had passed since her awakening and all the battles fought, the thought that once they _did_ find find a talisman that someone would have to die continued to weigh heavily on her. Michiru did what she could to keep the blonde going, but the stress was slowly taking a toll on them both.

And now, once again, the seas were stormy. And just like a dozen times before, Haruka and Michiru transformed into Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. As the rest of Tokyo blissfully went about its business, the two Senshi rushed to the scene of the Death Buster's latest attack.

-0-0-0-

"Now, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen yelled as he distracted the new enemy. Sailor Moon nodded apprehensively. Behind her Ami, Makoto and Minako were each already captured and pinned to the trunks of large trees within the grounds of the Hikara Shrine. In front of her was a new and dangerous enemy that appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

And behind the monster was Rei, still dressed in her miko uniform, pinned to the stone wall surrounding the shrine. It was her screams that had alerted Sailor Moon that something was wrong. Together with their friends they had taken on and defeated both the Dark Kingdom and the Black Moon Clan. She was not going to lose Rei to this new enemy.

"Moon Princess Halation!"

The daemon scowled at her, "Damn you! Very bad triangle!" it shouted, releasing an attack of its own. Before the stunned eyes of all, it overpowered Sailor Moon's attack, knocking the girl's staff from her hands.

"The most unlucky day!" It bellowed as it flew towards Sailor Moon, pinning her against a large oak with its hands and feet. Its hands and feet detached, leaving Sailor Moon still trapped against the tree as it tore the transformation broach from the girl with its teeth. As the broach struck the ground, Sailor Moon transformed against her will back into Usagi.

Usagi stared down at herself in wide-eyed shock. "Can such a thing..."

"Usako!" Tuxedo Kamen shouted. The daemon then attacked him binding him in vines. He fell from the stone wall he was standing on to the hard earth below.

Luna shook her head. "I can't watch anymore!"

"Luna!" Artemis cried as both he and Luna attacked the youma. The daemon simply tossed them aside like rag dolls. The two cats violently hit a tree trunk before they fell limply to the ground.

"Is that the last interruption?" the daemon asked sarcastically. Looking back over to Rei, it smiled maliciously. "Then I shall take my time to get the pure heart." The daemon then shot a black ray out of a five pointed star on her chest. Rei screamed out in pain as her heart crystal was at last extracted.

"Rei-chan, hold it together!" Usagi screamed as the miko's head fell forward as her whole body went limp. Usagi began to weep. Earlier in the day she and Rei had discussed their future hopes and dreams. Now the beautiful young miko looked almost dead as she hung limply from the wall, her heart crystal floating in front of her. The daemon laughed as it strode over and snatched the crystal. "There must be a talisman inside this crystal of her pure heart," it declared confidently.

"Give that back to Rei!" Usagi sobbed, her lower lip trembling as she continued to struggle to free herself, "I won't forgive you!"

The daemon turned to Usagi and grinned. "Humph, humans. I..." It never got to finish its taunt. A huge yellow ball of energy struck it from behind, nearly tearing the daemon apart. "Wha-! What in the world is going on!" In response, an aquamarine ball of energy struck it. The daemon screamed in agony before transforming back into a tree.

Usagi and the others freed themselves and ran over to Rei. As the trembling blonde held the miko in her arms, Luna looked on anxiously with the others. Something out of the corner of her eye, however, caused her to turn around and look back up at the trees. She saw two shadowy figures standing on a branch of one of the trees, their forms obscured by the foliage. As she gazed up at them, she realized that one of them was holding Rei's pure heart crystal that the daemon had dropped.

"This is not a talisman," the one holding the crystal said dejectedly in a low, almost husky voice.

"Looks like we had the wrong target,"

"A trip wasted." And with that, the figure holding the heart crystal tossed it back towards Rei.

"Rei chan, answer me," Usagi whimpered as she continued to hold her friend tightly in her arms. She looked up just in time to see the miko's heart crystal float down and reenter Rei's chest. The girl trembled, then slowly opened her eyes.

"U... Usagi-chan?"

Usagi and the other Senshi hugged their friend tightly, overjoyed that she was alright again. As Rei did her best to assure everyone she was fine, the two figures in the tree quickly jumped down to the ground and leaped away. Artemis, who watched their departure with Luna, came slowly over to the other cat's side. "Those two..."

Once things had calmed down a bit, the Senshi were able to take stock of what had just happened. "The new enemy seems to be after people with pure hearts," Ami noted.

Rei nodded, "They said something about talismans being inside them."

"And those two mysterious people..." Artemis put in.

Usagi took a deep breath. "A new battle is about to begin," she said apprehensively.

As the full gravity of their princess' words sank in on the Senshi, elsewhere Sailor Neptune landed on a rooftop with Sailor Uranus. With a heavy heart, she wondered if they'd ever find the talismans or the Messiah. She brushed her aquamarine locks away from her eyes with the back of her hand as she allowed a dejected sigh to escape.

She felt Uranus hand on her shoulder, and looked over at her. The blonde could tell what Neptune was thinking, and silently communicated that understanding in her eyes. Neptune took her hand and squeezed it tightly. They were each other's strength now, and together they would somehow see it through to the end.

Their hands separated, and they were off once again...

-Finis-

End Notes: And that, as they say, is that.

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you who have read, enjoyed and critiqued this story. It means more than you can imagine to know that you have all enjoyed my attempt at what originally simply going to be Sailor Neptune's story and instead ended up becoming more of a prequel to Sailor Moon told from Michiru's perspective.

Secondly, before anyone writes about it in their review, the original names of the characters from the Doom Tree story arc were Ail and Ann, but the AD Video translated them as _Ali_ and Ann. I decided to go with the former.

And finally, for those who are interested; Miyuki Fuji, Yuhka Asami and Takayo Oyama are three actresses who played Sailor Neptune in the Sailor Moon musicals. I borrowed from all three names to name the characters of sempai Miyuki Asami and roommate Takayo Fuji. And Miyuki's new freshman she's mentoring from chapter 18, Keiko Kitagawa, got her name from the actress who played Sailor Mars in the live action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon series. Finally, Principal Ichi got her name from the fictional blind swordsman Zatoichi of Japanese film fame.


End file.
